Bionicle: Light Through Shadows
by Dragon Claw92
Summary: It has been thirteen years since the defeat of Roodaka, allowing the now-Turaga and the islanders of Mata Nui to enjoy some peace. Aside from the Rahi and Bohrok, of course. But now a new legend will unfold, and a herald must rise to find the Seventh Toa. Can Takua and Jaller find the Toa of Light? Who is the shrouded figure who haunts them? And why? - Sequel to 'Demon's Keep'
1. Chapter 1: A Peaceful Morning

Water glittered in hues of orange and pink as the suns ascended over the almost utopian island of Mata Nui, warm light gently bathing the lily lads and huts that comprised Ga-Koro. All was quiet, save for the soft lapping of waves against the beach. Boats of varying sizes floated idly at the dock, waiting for the dock workers to set about the business of the day. All in all, the village was the epitome of peace and serenity.

Given that the island's seventeen year old Chronicler, Takua, was in town, that peace wasn't likely to last long. Ever since the boy had befriended at least one person in every village, as well as an abnormally large Ussal he liked to ride around on, it became common knowledge that the wander-lusting youth would never just pick somewhere and settle down. For the first while, Turaga Vakama had been content to escort his adopted nephews – Takua had insisted that he wanted to be Jaller's brother instead of his cousin, and both adventured until Jaller joined the Ta-Koro Guard – around the island, though it soon became clear that he was needed at his village more and as such it fell to others, such as Kapura, to make sure the boys made it safely until they were old enough to make the journeys themselves.

Nowadays, Takua tended to drift wherever he pleased, his curiosity getting him into all manner of strange and wondrous adventures. And, of course, all manner of trouble as well. It was no great secret to anyone in Ga-Koro, for instance, that Macku and Hewkii constantly made attempts to sneak off and meet with each other whenever Takua came to the water village. Sure, Hewkii could easily just visit Macku whenever he wanted to, and that was perfectly fine, but the problem came about when Macku wanted to do the same. Nokama was still fiercely protective of her village thanks to the Rahi and Bohrok attacks, and had grown to severely worry whenever anyone left it on their own. Add Macku's stubborn nature and Takua's knack for mischief, and the Turaga had a one-way ticket to a major headache. Sure, she trusted Macku well enough, and Takua wasn't really that bad of a person, but the danger that pair could get into was too great for Nokama to ignore.

Luckily for the two escape artists, Macku was an early riser and Takua had spent the night at her house. Not quite so luckily, Takua was also a heavy, and late, sleeper.

It was this fact that left Macku standing over the seventeen year old Chronicler while he slept, a frown etched solidly on her face. So far, she had tried talking at him, shaking him, prodding him, and even sitting on his legs, but nothing had quite been enough. She had a plan now though, and as she lifted her bucket and shifted her hold on it, she muttered in mild frustration. "If you scream and make the whole village mad, it's not my fault. Because we had a plan!"

To say Takua enjoyed his watery wakeup call would have been a bold-faced lie. With a yell that could wake the dead, the seventeen year old Chronicler launched into a sitting position and stared wide-eyed around the room for a moment, only really focusing on Macku when the initial shock started to wear off. "M-Macku!" He yelped, spluttering and shaking his head to move his sodden hair from his face. "Rude!"

The nineteen year old smirked vaguely, a hand on her hip as she stared down at him. "So is sleeping in when you've made plans with someone." She then turned and headed for the doorway, setting her bucket down beside it and glancing back over her shoulder. "Come on; if we're getting outta here before Turaga Nokama catches us, we've gotta get moving."

Even in the early morning hours, Ga-Koro's waters glittered like a beautifully polished sapphire, reflecting elegantly rippling light onto the lily pads and homes upon them. Normally Takua would've taken time to dawdle along and enjoy the last moments of sunrise, but the chill nip of water against his frame was all too clear a reminder that being a slowpoke was unwise, especially now that he'd more or less proven himself as an apt alarm bell. He could dawdle and enjoy the scenery soon enough though; the boat he and Macku had managed to snag the previous evening was just on the other side of the next lily pad. It was a small vessel, just a two or three person canoe, but even with its general lack of size the two who aimed to use it had to be careful with where they moored it; too close to Macku's house and everyone would know they were going to sneak off the following morning, too far and any early risers would have a greater chance at stopping them en route to it.

"Rahi bones..." Macku grumbled, pausing a moment to glance across the village toward Turaga Nokama's house. "Takua run! She's coming!"

A quick glance told the Chronicler all he needed; Nokama was, in fact, on her way by now, and looking less than impressed. That could only mean one thing; the Turaga was definitely onto their scheme, and was fully intending on trying to stop them.

Takua couldn't help but start laughing as he and Macku made a run for the boat, their footfalls sounding oddly wooden on the lily pad beneath them. "Go Macku, go!"

The nineteen year old laughed with him as she sped onward. "Believe me, I'm running! Just don't fall behind!"

Needless to say, most of Ga-Koro was onto the scheme by now, and as the escapists raced along, the cheers of some of the more playful Matoran reached their ears. It also led to Takua – in about of cheekiness – blowing a kiss to one of them on his way by, grinning like a loon as the recipient flushed and giggled at him whilst shaking her head.

Soon the escape boat was in sight, Macku's best friend, Hahli, already untying it for a quicker departure. "Go go go! Turaga Nokama is almost here!"

Macku and Takua all but threw themselves into the canoe, the force of their landings pushing it away from the lily pad and well out of arm's reach. This proved to be a good thing too, because as they sat up and lifted their paddles, Nokama reached the edge of the plant-based platform behind them, puffing quietly and frowning at the pair she had failed to capture. "You two better stay out of trouble, I mean it!" She shouted, brandishing her trident at the escaping teenagers. "I don't want to hear ANYTHING about mischief while you're away!"

Macku grinned back at Nokama, waving as she piped loudly. "Don't worry, Turaga! If we get into trouble it'll be Takua's fault!"

The thirty-nine year old sighed in blatant frustration. "That's why I'm worried!"

Takua merely laughed and waved over his shoulder before he and Macku set off for the shoreline. "She worries way too much." He commented cheerfully. "What kind of trouble could we possibly get into?"

Macku shrugged. "I dunno, Takua. All the peace we've had is almost concerning. Like something big is going to happen and we don't know when it will start."

The younger Matoran shook his head. "You're starting to sound like my uncle; he's always saying something dark and spooky is going to turn up. We've got Toa for that though, and they've never failed us before. Now cheer up; Hewkii's gonna be super stoked about that Kolhii tournament that's been planned, and he's gonna tell you who play's for Po-Koro. That's super important info for you and Hahli."

Even with this cheery diversion, however, the Chronicler couldn't help but wonder how accurate Macku's worries were. It had been quite some time since a major disaster happened, and there always seemed to be something big after years of peace. Just what that big something was, he had no idea, but the longer the peace was, the problem seemed to be. Still though, Turaga Vakama hadn't had any visions or strange dreams, so Takua wasn't too concerned. Things were peaceful for now, and that was the important part.

However, when Takua glanced at the shore again, he saw a figure shrouded in dark cloth watching them, glowing red eyes fixed on their steady approach. Takua blinked, but even as he did so the dark man disappeared without a trace. A shudder trembled down the Chronicler's spine.

Maybe things weren't so peaceful after all...


	2. Chapter 2: Dark Warnings

It didn't take long for Takua and Macku to figure out where Hewkii was, mainly because of his exuberant calling of their names mere moments after they had clambered out of their boat. It also helped that he was relatively tall, making it that much easier to spot his short, somewhat messy hair and – as Macku fondly described it – ruggedly handsome face. Bright orange eyes gleamed delightedly as Hewkii bounded over to his friends, catching Macku as she all but flung herself at him and proclaiming jovially. "Nice to see you made it! I was starting to wonder if I had to come rescue you two from a grumpy Turaga!"

Macku laughed as she straightened up and took a step back. "You almost had to; Takua slept in and needed some encouragement waking up."

The Chronicler in question huffed a bit, though his pout was clearly a joke and nothing more. "She dumped water on me!"

Hewkii grinned all the more at this. "Better you than me; I hate getting wet, and that's after Macku taught me how to swim!" He then turned his attention to Macku. "Maybe just roll him off the bed next time though? Might make it easier to wake him up without being so loud?"

"You've got your ways, I've got mine." She replied, giving an idle shrug before eyeing Hewkii with an almost impish gleam in her eyes. "So, the Po-Koro team, and any other details you know. I wanna hear 'em."

Takua merely smiled as his friends launched into a heavy discussion about their favorite sport, both talking with all the excitement and exuberance of a party-going Le-Matoran. It was endearing in a way, or so he thought, to see them both so giddy about the tournament. Sure, he wasn't much better half the time, but these two practically lived and breathed kolhii when they weren't busy helping out around their villages. Or, he thought with a small chuckle, sneaking off to meet up and hang out. Perhaps he would eventually tease them and say each sneak-out may as well be a date due to how close they were; he had toyed with this notion a few times already, and had only held back out of courtesy so far. Though, he had to admit embarrassing Macku was a tempting chance at revenge for her rather undesired method of waking him up.

"Hey Takua, who plays for Ta-Koro?"

The seventeen year old blinked. "Huh?"

Hewkii laughed. "Well, you already know that Macku and Hahli are playing, and that Hafu and I are playing, so it's only fair that you tell us who's playing for Ta-Koro."

"Oh, right." Takua smiled sheepishly, unwilling to admit he'd been daydreaming about teasing his friends. "Jaller and I are representing our village. Not sure who's playing for the others though, so can't help you there."

"Rats." Hewkii commented, grinning a little. "I'd been sure you of all people would know. Guess I'll just have to pester Turaga Onewa until he either tells me, or tries hitting me."

Macku giggled a bit. "Only you would get a laugh out of Turaga harassment, Hewkii; you're probably the only one who can outrun them without a head start."

The Po-Matoran's grin broadened, hands on his hips as he proudly puffed out his chest. "I take pride in knowing I can outrun Turaga Onewa; only other person I know who can do that is Toa Pohatu."

Takua found himself laughing with his friends now, already imagining the grand chases around Po-Koro where Turaga Onewa eventually just gave up. Most of the Turaga were either fast enough to swing their staff and clock their target, a few didn't even have to strike to get the point across. Turaga Onewa was neither fast enough or scary enough, but what he lacked in speed he could readily make up for with endurance, and that rarely ran out before whoever he was chasing actually slowed down. In fact, the only reason Onewa couldn't catch Pohatu was probably because of his mask power, and nothing more.

A sudden movement caught the Chronicler's attention, causing him to blink and glance around. Had that been a Rahi? Or was that a person? Curiosity won over and he started walking, seemingly unnoticed by his conversing companions. He normally wound up on the sideline during kolhii discussions between Hewkii and Macku anyway, never really having the heart to butt in on their fun. It was fine by him though; it meant he could satisfy his curiosity while they chattered, and they could listen to his adventurous tales when he returned from them.

Soon Takua had vanished into the tree line, looking around with utmost curiosity as he searched for clues that might tell him more about what he thought he saw. Further and further from his friends, the hard-to-follow trail soon led Takua to a gap in the foliage...

And into the presence of the strange, robed figure with glowing red eyes. For several seconds, all the seventeen year old could do was stare, involuntarily shivering as he came to realize that the man's shroud was not cloth. Instead, it was rippling shadow, veritable sheets of darkness clinging to his frame like countless layers of gossamer fabric held captive in an eerie, swaying motion, as though caught in a soft and sinister breeze.

"It's a good thing you chose to follow me, boy." A soft, almost husky voice remarked. "The future of this paradise you so desperately love could depend entirely on it."

Takua shuddered at the grim stranger's words. The future of Mata Nui could depend on his curiosity? Could depend on HIM? How? And why? Instead of asking this, however, Takua could only manage three shaken words. "Wh-who are you?"

"That hardly matters." The being replied, his unblinking eyes staring vigilantly into Takua's. "What matters is that you unearth long hidden secrets, knowledge unwritten and lost to the whims of time and memory. A shadow is growing in the heart of serenity, biding its time until all strength will fail to stop it. Only secrets buried in the core of all fires, exposed only by the lifeblood of Mangai, will save what you cherish."

The Chronicler shrunk back a step, his face pale and his sapphire eyes wide. "Why me?" He sputtered nervously. "I-I love adventure, but something this big? That kind of stuff should be told to the Toa, not me."

"The Toa are too obvious." The shrouded one replied, almost briskly. "They draw attention everywhere they go, watched by darkness and mocked in the void. No, the Toa are useless for this endeavor. It must be you." A darkness-wreathed hand pointed at Takua now as the stranger's tone grew firm, almost sharp and demanding. "Go. Find the miraculous within the mundane, and protect everything held dear to you. Tell nobody of my words; doing so would threaten more than mere privacy."

Takua cringed again, sputtering feebly in his attempt to make sense of what he had been told. "But-"

"Don't question me." The figure cut in darkly. "There is no time for wasting, especially when swift action is paramount. Do nothing, and the world's end will be yours to carry."

Before the Chronicler could speak again, he found his world suddenly going black, and while he was still quite conscious he had no means to tell him which way was which. Panicking, Takua turned in what he hoped was a complete about-face and stumbled forward, panic leaving him grasping wildly for any form of support. Instead, however, he found himself tripping, something smashing against his head and throwing him into oblivion.

He wasn't entirely sure how long it was until he woke up, only that something wet and cold was on his forehead. Good thing too, because along with conscious awareness came a violently bad headache. "Oww..."

Blue eyes weakly fluttered open as Takua tried to figure out where he was. He could hear the faint sound of waves somewhere nearby, his vision a blurry haze of green, intermittent patches of blue dotting here and there among the more dominant shades. Slowly everything came into focus, bringing Takua to the realization that he was in Ga-Koro. Had it all been a dream? Had he merely rolled off his bed earlier that morning and bumped his head on something?

Part of him certainly hoped that was the case. As much as grand adventures and finding ancient secrets was exciting, he rather didn't fancy doing so with the threat of unspeakable doom hovering over him if he failed. That kind of risk could put a damper on any walk-about. Deciding he would simply hope it was all a crazy dream, Takua carefully sat up and – after setting aside the cloth that had been on his forehead – eased himself off the bed, only to find himself face-to-face with Turaga Nokama, and the late realization that he was in the village leader's house rather than Macku's.

Instantly he sat back down.

"Good, you're actually awake." Nokama said, frowning mildly in concern as she studied him. "I was starting to wonder if I would have to send you home unconscious or not."

The seventeen year old blinked. "You... were?" He hesitantly inquired. "How long was I out of it?" Surely it hadn't been that long...

"A day and a half."

Apparently it had been, and at first Takua could only gape at her in bewilderment, if not alarm. Naturally, this also meant the first comment out of his mouth was, perhaps, a bit daft. "You're kidding."

Nokama's concerned frown turned into an annoyed one rather quickly. "Apparently whatever you cracked your head on also stole your recollection of which Turaga finds things like personal health to be a joke. Now, before you accuse me of having Matau's sense of humor again, why don't you tell me what happened? Hewkii and Macku said they found you already unconscious in the trees."

So much for everything just being a dream. "I... don't really remember." Takua lied awkwardly, remembering the threats of the shrouded man. "It's kind of a dark blur."

Nokama wasn't convinced. "You remember full well what happened, Takua. If you don't want to talk about it you should have said so."

"... Should have?"

The Turaga's frown grew. "Yes. Because if you would've just said that, I wouldn't be half as suspicious as I am now."

"Oh."

A few moments passed in silence, Nokama watching him impatiently. "Well?"

There was no avoiding it now, and Takua knew it. He was doomed to be pestered until he spilled.

So he told her everything.


	3. Chapter 3: Adventurous Observation

A long, drawn out sigh escaped him as seventeen year old Jaller stood on Ta-Koro's fortress-like wall, his gaze roaming idly in the direction of Ga-Koro. It had been a week since Takua came back from the floating village, and he still hadn't been told anything about how the visit went. Granted, no news when Takua was involved was likely good news on its own, but the fact that the adventurous Chronicler hadn't shared with anyone but Turaga Vakama was, perhaps, a little irksome. After all, Jaller and Takua had grown up together, did almost everything together, and as such shared pretty much everything from clothes, to stories, to even footwear a couple times.

It then occurred to him that, perhaps, he really didn't want to know what happened. If Takua had gotten himself into big enough trouble that he didn't want to talk about it, not knowing was likely safer than finding out. Yes, that was likely how it would be. The more he thought about it, the more relieved he was that he really didn't have a clue what Takua had gotten himself into. Besides, it could really just be something as mundane as Takua accidentally seeing one of the Ga-Matoran in an awkward way to be seen.

Jaller's face went pink as this possibility came to mind and he quickly shook his head. No, he really didn't want to hear about anything like that. At all. Ever.

"Hey Jaller!"

The young man blinked and turned toward the voice, finding himself looking at the blond-haired, blue-eyed misfit he had just been wondering about. It didn't take long for Jaller to recognize the energetic gleam and desire for adventure that lit the Chronicler's eyes like lightstones. "Oh boy..."

"Aw come on Jaller!" Takua pleaded excitedly. "It's gonna be fun! Besides, the Kolhii match is tonight and you gotta loosen up a bit!"

"Takua," the guard remarked with a small frown, loosely crossing his arms as he spoke. "remember the last time you wanted me to go on an adventure?"

"Yeah?"

"And you had to get Toa Pohatu to get me out of the kofu-jaga nest because I fell in when the ground dropped out from under us?"

"Yeah?"

"Because I wound up having to make a split-second decision to try and save one of us so we didn't both fall in?"

"Yeah?"

"No."

"Aw!" The Chronicler pouted outright for a couple moments. "Come on, Jaller! This won't be nearly as dangerous as last time!"

"You always say that, yet it never changes."

"It'll be different this time!"

"I've heard that before too."

"But-!"

"Enough!" Jaller exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm not going, Takua! And wherever it is, you shouldn't go there either!" He shook his head and paused to take a deep breath, sighing loudly as he more or less reined in his brief outburst. "You said already that the tournament match was tonight, and it's the biggest game in the whole event. We trained so long for this, and we're so close to finally winning. Not only that, but we know who we're playing against too, and aside from Hahli they're all older than us by at least two years. Hafu is twenty-three for Mata Nui's sake! Not to mention he's had that much more time to play than we have, and he always plays with Hewkii. Those two won't even have to speak to know what the other is planning to do. If we spend our energy on an adventure now, we'll never last against them, or Ga-Koro. And we'll be playing against both of them at once."

The guard hesitated again, running a hand through his hair and mussing it up before speaking again, his voice calm and subtly pleading. "If we're going to prove why we're the best, we have to be ready to put every ounce of ourselves into winning this game. Please, Takua, save the adventure for when we win the tournament, okay?"

The Chronicler's shoulders sagged and expression fell as he slowly, reluctantly, nodded. "Fine, we won't go together then. I'll do something on my own for now so you can get your head in the game." He paused before smiling a bit, some of his previous energy returning to his eyes. "I'm sure Pewku and I can find something fun. Bye Jaller!"

Before the guard could even do or say anything else, his adopted brother waved and ran off out of sight, leaving Jaller to wonder just how much trouble he may have inadvertently caused. "Mata Nui help whoever he pesters now..."

It was some considerable amount of time later that found Jaller watching at the gate while visitors from Po-Koro and Ga-Koro arrived. Standing on the wall – his vigilance refused his desire to actively search for Hahli – and observing the goings on from above, the seventeen year old couldn't help but lean over the side a little, hoping to catch even just a glimpse of his favorite Ga-Matoran. Of course, his scrutiny and focus meant he wasn't really paying attention to whoever else may have been nearby.

"Looking for what you know will stop you from seeing what you should."

With a yelp of alarm that likely could have been heard by those below, Jaller spun around to face whoever had spoken, his wide eyes quickly focusing on the tall, well-built, twenty-four year old that now stood watching him. Black, unruly hair adorned his head, stray segments hanging almost haphazardly in his face and nearly long enough to be an obstruction for his golden yellow eyes. His outfit was fairly similar to Jaller's, comprised of cloth and lightweight metal plates for protection, though the armor he wore was copper colored instead of gold like the younger guard's, indicating his role as the captain. A bemused smile was also blatantly obvious on his face.

"K-Kapura!" Jaller sputtered loudly, his face quickly reddening as he recovered from the minor scare. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The older Matoran chuckled. "Was I sneaking? Or were you not observing? Point of view changes a story's course. Just as misleading words can change a wayward wanderer's path."

Jaller blinked in confused bewilderment. This wasn't the first time Kapura had said something that was at least somewhat baffling, and whenever he did it was likely that he was trying to convey a point that required deeper thought than a simple first impression. "... Why am I getting the feeling that I'm missing something?"

"You might be missing something." Kapura mused absently. "Or you may simply have forgotten the ways of those around you." He shrugged. "Whatever the case may be, however, there is a small problem."

"Oh?"

"Takua is missing."

"Wh-what?!"

Jaller was dumbstruck. Purely, utterly, dumbstruck. Takua was missing? How?! Apparently his shock at the news was easy to read, because Kapura remarked. "Is it truly that surprising? Takua wanders like a wayward wind, no true direction save its own whims and fancies. Tell me Jaller, did you talk to him earlier today?"

"Well, yeah." The seventeen year old replied awkwardly, not entirely sure where this was going. "Takua and I talk all the time. But how does that relate to his disappearance?"

The guard captain chuckled quietly and shook his head. "It relates to nothing, and still relates to everything. You focus too much on the words, and too little on their meaning. Reflect on your words, and his words; I think the answer you're looking for is hidden in the meaning."

Jaller frowned as he mulled it over, his gaze roaming back over the wall as he tried to remember what had been said earlier that day. "Hm... well, he said he wanted to investigate something but I told him I didn't want to go on an adventure because we need to reserve our strength for the Kolhii match..." He shook his head and frowned a bit more. "Takua said we didn't have to and that he'd do something on his own with... Pewku... Oh no. Kapura, he went off on an adventure by hims-huh?"

It seemed that somehow during his brief moment of contemplation, Jaller had completely missed the fact that Kapura had managed to slip away, apparently with as much ease and skill as he had demonstrated in his sudden and rather stealthy arrival.

"How did he...?" Jaller stammered quietly, looking around in utmost confusion. "Nothing ever gets past me!"

He didn't spend much time contemplating, however; Takua wasn't going to find himself, and if Jaller wanted to save them from tournament failure – and village-wide embarrassment – the Chronicler had to be retrieved. "If I was Takua on a presumed short adventure, where would I run off to?"

That truly was the biggest problem with trying to find Takua. A 'short adventure' inevitably, without any chance of failure or deviation, evolved into an island-wide exploration campaign, regardless of its humble beginnings. And if it was going to be something with potential like that, it had to start somewhere Takua wasn't supposed to be. And the closest place that was labeled off limits was...

"The volcano."

Jaller groaned as he grabbed his spear and shield from nearby. Of course Takua would go there, alone no less! "Uncle Vakama is going to kill me for not stopping him!"

In moments he was racing down the steps to the street below, his shield and spear slung across his back as he sped along. How much time did he even have before they would be disqualified? How soon would the tournament even start? And perhaps a little more worrisome, how soon would the Turaga find out that Takua was poking around in an area that everyone knew was strictly off-limits to anyone that wasn't a Toa or village elder?

Whatever his time limits were, fortune seemed willing to smile on Jaller at present, as he was able to reach the volcano's access tunnels in record time, with nobody there to try and stop him. But now the real test began. Now he had to find Takua, retrieve Takua, AND not get lost in the process. As it was, Jaller had only been down in the tunnels a couple times, and even then it was only a little ways in with his uncle so they could completely avoid any possible prying ears. "Uncle Vakama is so going to kill us both by the time this is over..."

The further he went, the more Jaller questioned why he didn't just tell his uncle and be done with it. Every step he took only increased his concerns about the situation, every shout calling Takua's name leading the seventeen year old to further frustration and annoyance. "Uhg... he's got more rocks in his head than a Po-Matoran! On a good day!"

He was about to call out again when he heard the familiar, bark-like chattering that betrayed the nearness of Pewku, and where Pewku was, Takua was nearby. "Gotcha."

The chittering and barking led Jaller into a vast tunnel with a high ceiling and a wide lava river flowing through it. Several large, flat stones jutted up from the river, spaced relatively evenly apart and just close enough to each other that a brave – or foolish – person could jump along them to reach the far side, on which a pedestal with a fairly mundane and weathered totem stone sat.

What Jaller was really looking for, however, was halfway across the 'stepping stones', happily chattering to himself whenever he wasn't jumping. The guard groaned quietly. Of course this would be the situation; if it wasn't life threatening, why bother? Jaller had finally had enough.

"Takua!"


	4. Chapter 4: A Little Extra Adventure

He was almost there. Just a few more jumps, and he would be able to take a close look at the strange and weathered totem he'd discovered on his adventure. His heart pounded loudly in excitement at the thought of learning more, and being able to share his discovery with the world.

' _Knowledge unwritten and lost to the whims of time and memory...'_

Yes, this was exactly the kind of story Takua had to know. Something like that totem had to be majorly important, and must have been an equally important part of some lost civilization.

"Takua!"

The Chronicler froze, hesitating a moment before turning slowly to look at Jaller. "Oh, uh, hi Jaller." He said awkwardly, rather like a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "I thought you were going to be relaxing before the match. What gives?"

The guard sighed in exasperation. "The kolhii match is exactly why I'm here. We're gonna be late, and you're down here – where you aren't supposed to be – looking at old rocks!"

Takua blinked in surprise; had the time really flown by that quickly? "Oh, um... just gimme a moment Jaller. I'll be there soon, I've gotta see this totem and then we can leave. I won't be long!"

"You better not be long; we have a game to win and a Turaga to appease." The redhead scolded. "So hurry up and get back here already!"

"Yeah yeah, hold your rahi!" Takua called back, returning to his task and calculating his next few jumps before hurling onward toward his goal. One, two, three bounces and he was safely on the other side. Grinning with pride, he turned and waved cheekily at his 'brother'. "Hah!"

Jaller rolled his eyes, slowly – and with obvious sarcasm – applauding the blond's achievement. "Very nice... now let's go!"

Takua waved him off before scampering over to the totem, studying it with utmost curiosity and eventually picking it up. "Huh... kind of boring looking to me. Why put something this bland all the way down here?"

However, that was when the ground started to shake, catching Takua off guard and causing him to topple over, the mysteriously bland totem falling from his grasp and rolling partially into the lava. At once, the stone began to melt, crumbling even as the Chronicler made a foolhardy grab it to spare whatever he could manage. What he grasped, however, wasn't what he had expected to recover.

' _Only secrets buried in the core of all fires, exposed only by the lifeblood of Mangai, will save what you cherish.'_

There in Takua's hands, undamaged by the incredible heat that was so dangerously close, was a golden crown, patterned with markings the Chronicler had never seen before, with strange runes decorating the inside. But perhaps the most amazing aspect of all was the fact that it was glowing with a strange and incredible brilliance.

' _Find the miraculous within the mundane.'_

For several long moments, all Takua could do was stare at it, basking in a glow that simply felt right, though he had no idea why. Part of him wanted to put it on, just to see if it would fit, though he decided that doing so would be an insult to history, and as such he refrained. Instead, he stowed it in his satchel and - remembering he really needed to get a move on - quickly started off across the rocks, back towards Jaller. However, he had only made it halfway before the ground shook again, and as it did, the lava floe swelled. In mere moments, Takua was stranded, barely any room left for him to stand as the other, smaller rocks were enveloped by the lethal liquid below. Terror gripped him as the Chronicler looked up, his now sweaty face paling as his blue eyes fixed solely on his best friend. "J-Jaller?!"

Pure and utter fear stared right back at him, the other seventeen year old forced to fall back as the lava continued to rise. "T-Takua?!"

A roiling, rumbling roar overpowered all other sounds as a vast wave of molten rock peeled forth from further up the tunnel, the red hot glow distorting all vision and making the temperature rise as it crashed down the floe, straight for the stranded matoran. Takua squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the end, arms raised in a futile attempt to shield his head from the unavoidable doom that coursed ever nearer.

The sudden impact and rush that followed, however, were not the last moments of his life. There was no pain, no burning. Just a strong arm around his waist, and a hot breeze blasting around him. A strong, vaguely amused voice spoke. "Decided to go sight-seeing before the match, Chronicler? Certainly picked a bad spot for it."

Takua gasped and looked up, finding himself staring up at a well built, well tanned man clad in impressive looking armor and easily standing five or six inches taller than he was, with fiery red hair and almost as fiery pink and red eyes. "T-Toa Tahu!"

The twenty-eight year old snorted a faint laugh, carefully adjusting his weight on his lava board so they didn't fall over. "Well who else would be able to save you from something like that? Now hold on tight; this adventure is just getting started!"

It didn't take much coaxing for the seventeen year old to comply, shifting and wrapping his arms around his rescuer, barely even believing just how close he had come to actually dying. "I-I thought we were about to end it, not start a new one!"

Tahu smirked slightly as they hurtled along down the floe. "Since when do you just stop at one adventure? You came down here, so we may as well see the best part!"

"Best part?" Takua repeated, blinking a couple times before looking around in bewilderment. What in the world was the Toa planning to show him? Surely there weren't any other relics hidden away in the volcano; Mangai was more or less Tahu's playground – to use Turaga Onewa's wording – and it was common knowledge that he wasn't really that interested in history. But if it wasn't a relic... Sudden realization hit him as Takua hastily looked around again, registering the wide expanse that he and his rescuer were rocketing towards.

They were going over a lava fall.

"T-Toa Tahu?"

The guardian didn't answer, though the determined expression he held was impossible to miss.

"Toa Tahu?"

Still no answer. They were almost at the edge!

"Tahu?!"

"Hang on tight, kid!"

It was all Takua could do to not scream as they shot off the ledge, the seventeen year old clinging for dear life as he felt the rush of hot air surging up from beneath them. They were falling, down down down, straight for a veritable lake of molten rock. Suddenly, two great plumes of fire burst forth from Tahu's hands, strongly enough that it slowed their descent, eventually even causing them to rise back up toward the top of the falls. "Hey Chronicler!" Tahu remarked almost smugly. "What do you think of the volcano now?"

"T-terrifying!" The teenager yelped. "I wanna go back!"

Tahu laughed as he nodded, jetting them toward a pathway near the lava. "Figured that would be the case. Aren't you glad I showed up to save you?"

Takua rather wanted to argue that he could've lived without the extra adventure, but merely chose to nod his head. After all, the Toa Nuva had technically saved his life.

He just hoped it wouldn't happen again.

^v^v^v^v^v^

Several minutes later found Takua, Jaller, and Tahu, leaving the volcano's tunnels, Pewku scurrying along behind and happily chattering her excitement over the whole ordeal. Takua was less enthusiastic about the matter; he could have gotten himself killed, or even gotten Jaller killed. Not only that, but he had been questioned by Tahu and Jaller the whole way out about the strange crown he had discovered, not to mention – by his best friend at least – just how insane he really was. By the time they were even outside and on their way back to town, Takua almost wanted to be alone so he could sort his thoughts out.

"Don't forget to take that crown to the Turaga." Tahu commented as they entered Ta-Koro. "Turaga Vakama will want to see it, I'm sure." A pause, and then the Toa smirked. "After you win the kolhii match; I'm not going to let anyone get away with betting on the wrong team."

Takua blinked as he scampered hastily towards the kolhii ring, Jaller right beside him. "People are taking bets?" He asked tentatively. "Seriously?"

Jaller raised an eyebrow at him. "You thought they wouldn't? This is the biggest kolhii match we've ever had; of course people are going to be making bets. Which is even more reason for us to win this."

"Oh... do you think Toa Tahu made any bets?"

Jaller grinned, pushing open the door to the team locker he and Takua would be using. "Probably. You know how he is; talks a good game and gets himself into bad situations because he's so sure he's going to win."

"That is true." Takua replied, laughing a little as he quickly set about getting ready for the match. "He's kinda quick to boast, especially now that the island is so peaceful. Will he ever learn?"

Jaller shrugged as he changed into his team uniform. "Only if something big happens, but that's really unlikely. We've had peace for so long I doubt anything massive is ever going to happen again."

Something about those words made Takua shudder, his mind wandering back to a week ago, back to his encounter with the mysterious and shadowy figure. If any of the commentary had been accurate – which so far had turned out true – things were going to be extremely dangerous, and very quickly. "Yeah, um, about that..."

Before the Chronicler could say more, however, the voice of an announcer rang out through the building. Jaller grinned. "This is it, Takua! Let's do this!" Pink eyes glittered with excitement, the guard's every fiber practically vibrating with energy and determination.

"For Ta-Koro!"


	5. Chapter 5: Rising Competition

The thunderous cheering and applause was enough to make his heart race as Pohatu watched the Kolhii teams step out onto the field, positively beaming with pride as Hewkii and Hafu confidently strode into view. By now, he and the other Toa present – Tahu and Gali – had already been introduced and cheered for, something Pohatu enjoyed the fanfare of but didn't fully get the point of. Sure, he and the other Toa Nuva had saved the island repeatedly by now, but it didn't feel right to let all the praise go to them. The final battles were theirs, but all along the way there had been Matoran playing equally important parts, and while these Matoran had been honored to an extent, it was always the Toa who got the Muaka's share of the glory.

The twenty-eight year old grimaced slightly as he looked between Tahu and Gali. All the praise and glory had gone to Tahu's already swelled head, and that in turn had driven Gali to start practically loathing her Brother's company. So much so that she herself had grown blind to her own, less pronounced ego. In fact, all the Toa were being affected by the peace and showering of appreciation. Lewa now spent more time partying with his own people than he did checking in on the others. Tahu and Gali could barely stand being near each other without starting an argument or pointless debate. Kopaka had become reclusive to everyone – more so than usual, at least - , aside from Pohatu if the Stone Toa went up Mt. Ihu for a visit. Even Pohatu had changed, finding himself more and more bored with the constant lack of danger.

In truth, the only one who scarce seemed different was Onua. While he spent most of his time underground, he alone seemed as calm and cheerful as the day he'd met everyone else, albeit a bit more wise and mature. Pohatu hated admitting it to himself, but Onua and Kopaka were the only members on his team that he didn't bother finding a reason to visit these days.

As he sat there between Gali and Tahu – who by now had devolved into petty insults about whose team was better – while waiting for the first ball to launch, Pohatu couldn't help but wonder how things had gotten this bad. They had changed from undefeatable heroes to disjointed acquaintances at a speed that even Pohatu could hardly fathom. "Must you two spoil such a joyous occasion with your squabbles and debates?" He asked finally, putting an arm around their shoulders to try and find even a shred of the Unity they used to share. "We're here to enjoy a Kolhii match like none other, not bicker like children."

Gali rolled her eyes as she brushed Pohatu's arm off. "I'll enjoy watching Ga-Koro crush their opposition, Brother. Tahu just wants to deny the inevitable."

"Gali is just trying to hide from the truth that my team is better than hers." Tahu remarked, his tone so pompous that Pohatu withdrew his arm purely out of disgust. "She's nothing but steam. Hot air, as they say."

The Stone Toa tried to speak, but Gali beat him to it. "Hot water, Tahu. Steam is hot water. You're so pathetic you can't even insult me properly."

Pohatu groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. "Why couldn't Ko-Koro and Onu-Koro have won instead?" He mumbled wearily. "At least that way I wouldn't be stuck listening to you two argue."

The blare of a horn drowned out any rebuttals as the first Kolhii ball launched, and Pohatu took this moment to move and stand near the rail of the viewing box, determined to lose himself in the game and ignore his Siblings entirely. He could almost imagine that he was down on the field as he leaned forward a little, hands lightly gripping the guard rail in excited anticipation. Each player was remarkably skilled, there was no doubt of that, and with every change of direction the game took, Pohatu's adrenaline rush pounded ever stronger. He took to quietly saying the name of whoever had the Kolhii ball, grinning broadly at each exchange. "Hewkii, Takua, Hahli, Hewkii, Hahli... huh." Something wasn't right about that pattern. Pohatu knew Takua was a stronger player than that; why was he performing at less than the top of his game now? "Hey Tahu," he asked absently. "is Takua feeling alright? Something seems a bit off."

No answer.

Confused by this, Pohatu glanced behind him and discovered that both Tahu and Gali were glaring at him. "Sheesh, forget I even asked..."

The match's first score went to Ga-Koro, something that Pohatu smiled at. This was Hahli's first year of playing Kolhii seriously, and while it had initially come as a surprise to everyone, Pohatu was thrilled that Hahli had made it this far. In fact, he was fairly certain that, were egos not running rampant, Tahu may have even been a little proud of the girl's success too. Pohatu decided he'd try to have a chat with Hahli after the match to congratulate her, regardless of how the game ended. At least that way she'd know that one of the Toa wasn't hanging their pride on the match's outcome. Yes, that's what he'd do. Maybe he'd talk to all the players, just for good measure. Nothing said encouraging like being told they played well, especially from a diehard player who probably would've tried joining the tournament if he'd been allowed to.

Pohatu's concern about Takua's playing only grew stronger as the match progressed. By the time Ga-Koro and Po-Koro were both one point from victory, he still hadn't been able to score a goal, something practically unheard of for him through the entire tournament. "Tahu," Pohatu tried again. "is Takua okay? I've never seen him play like this before, and I've watched every match in this tournament."

"Maybe he heard your comment from before the match started." The Fire Toa remarked snappishly, though he joined his brother at the rail all the same.

Pohatu shook his head, deciding not to take the blatantly obvious bait. "I think he's distracted by something, actually. I've seen him glance around a few times as if he was looking for someone in the stands. He's never done that in the other games." He looked at Tahu and frowned mildly. "Something has him spooked, and I don't think it's any of us."

The anger in Tahu's eyes receded a little as he watched Takua, realization flashing across his face when he saw Pohatu's observation was correct. "He is off a bit..." He reluctantly admitted. "But I have no idea why. He did find some sort of strange crown in the volcano just before the match, but something like that should've made him play better, not worse."

"Unless he didn't tell anyone the full story." Gali put in as she joined her Brothers. "Turaga Nokama said he encountered something when he was visiting Ga-Koro, but she didn't tell me what it was."

"Something or someone?" Pohatu asked suddenly, pointing across the arena to where a shrouded figure stood, their face hidden by darkness as they presumably watched the tournament playing out. "Look!"

Mere seconds after Pohatu pointed the stranger out, however, they faded into the shadows. Not fast enough to avoid being spotted, but definitely fast enough to offer no chance of reaching them. Gali frowned as she stared at the spot. "Who in the world was that?"

"I don't know," Tahu replied, his voice holding a low growl. "but I can only think of one person with power like that."

"Whoa!"

The announcer's voice suddenly drew attention to the rogue Kolhii ball that Takua had accidentally sent careening into the Turaga's box, a loud crash and the groan that followed betraying that the ball had not only hit the wall, but also who sounded to be Vakama.

The announcer barely held back his own laugh as he remarked. "Can't say we've ever seen a move like that before! But unfortunately that will not earn any bonus points for style or hitting the Turaga!"

Tahu, Pohatu, and Gali, all blinked and looked at each other, though eventually Pohatu shrugged in defeat. "Guess Takua decided to make history again?" As Tahu and Gali both cracked small grins and laughed, Pohatu grinned a bit himself. Perhaps there was hope for his Siblings after all.

^v^v^v^v^v^

The end of the match came about shortly after the well-timed accident, with Hahli scoring the final goal against Jaller and claiming victory for Ga-Koro. Predictably, Tahu was as sour about this outcome as a fresh lemon, but thankfully Gali had enough grace to not rub it in. On the contrary – and much to Pohatu's relief – she admitted she wanted a rematch when Takua was back to normal, and Tahu was eager to accept the challenge. But as the award ceremony took place, the strange crown Takua had found tumbled out of his backpack – which he'd insisted on retrieving for reasons unknown – and onto the ground in front of Jaller, who pushed it over to Takua with his feat. The chronicler apparently panicked and pushed it back, though instead of sliding as smoothly as it had before, it got caught on something and tilted... utterly bathing Jaller in a blindingly bright light. A chorus of startled gasps washed over the arena, and even as the Turaga approached Takua and Jaller, Pohatu glanced almost warily at Tahu. "I take it that's the thing Takua found in the volcano?"

The Toa of Fire nodded, his expression uncertain. "Yes, but it never did that before. Why?"

Pohatu bit his lip, hesitating before saying grimly. "I was talking with Kopaka the other day, and he said Turaga Nuju had read something in the stars. He couldn't make sense of what the Turaga said, not fully at least, but apparently he said something like 'the brightest crown reveals the darkest king'. I doubt it's referring to Jaller here, but I can't help but wonder..."

Tahu snorted indignantly. "Some part of you thinks that Jaller is a dark lord? His father may have been a Shadow Toa but I doubt Jaller followed that."

The Stone Toa shook his head. "I don't think Jaller is a dark omen, no. But that figure we saw earlier might be."

Gali looked concerned. "Do you think the Makuta is coming back?"

"I don't know, but I do know this; whoever this threat is, they picked an opportune time to make an appearance. I just hope we can be ready faster than they are. If we can't..."

"Then I think we're doomed."


	6. Chapter 6: Questioning Answers

Even though several minutes – some of which involving being carried due to temporary blindness - had passed, Jaller still found himself blinking and squinting to try and regain his scrambled vision. The confusion caused by Takua's crown had led to the Turaga investigating the relic, and the translating of the strange, rune like markings along its inside edges. Now Jaller and Takua were sitting on the couch in Vakama's house, waiting to hear more while Nokama translated the markings. Past the blotches in his recovering eyes, Jaller could see Toa Tahu pacing, his hands loosely clasped behind his back. Toa Gali and Toa Pohatu were also in the room, though they were sitting down rather than wearing out the floor like their Brother.

"What's taking them so long?" Tahu eventually grumbled, his renowned impatience finally expressing itself. "We should know what's going on by now!"

Jaller sighed quietly as he blearily turned his gaze to his best friend. Takua had been uncharacteristically void of commentary so far, and instead had taken to low-key mauling one of the couch cushions with his excessive fumbling. Jaller's previous lack of curiosity about the Ga-Koro trip was giving way to suspicious wonderment again. "Takua?"

The blond boy looked over at him, still fidgeting with the pillow in his hands. "Yeah Jaller?"

"What happened in Ga-Koro?"

It didn't take long before the Toa were watching Takua as well, leaving him fidgeting even more and seeming incredibly antsy. "I..."

"Well?" Tahu pressed. "What happened?"

The Chronicler shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to talk about it..."

Jaller stared at him in dumbfounded confusion. Takua didn't want to share one of his adventures? That was practically unheard of. "You don't?" The guard asked. "Why not? You weren't sneaking peeks at anyone were you?"

"What? No!" Takua sputtered out. "It's nothing like that. I just don't want to talk about it, that's all."

Tahu started speaking, but Pohatu cut him off so he wouldn't say anything stupid. "Did it have to do with that dark figure we saw in the stands during the Kolhii match?"

"He was here?!"

Pohatu grimaced at the answer. "I'll take that as a yes then." He said quietly. "Takua, if someone is hunting or threatening you, we need to know about it, okay? We can't protect you if you don't tell us what's happening."

"Yeah, but-"

"Takua why didn't you tell me about this sooner?!" Tahu exclaimed. "It's my job to deal with stuff like this!" He ignored Pohatu's groan and Gali's exasperated sigh. "How am I supposed to do my job if you don't talk?!"

"Enough Tahu!" Gali said sternly, rising to her feet and walking over to him. "You shouting at Takua won't help!"

The Fire Toa scowled at her. "And I suppose you have some sort of special insight, I take it?"

"No, but I know better than to yell at a stressed Matoran." She scolded, arms crossed and expression annoyed. "In what way is that even remotely helpful?"

Pohatu got up and walked over to the couch, ignoring his Siblings as he squished himself between Jaller and Takua, whilst putting an arm around each. "Don't mind those two, Takua; I know you had your reasons."

Jaller – now seeing much more clearly – shifted a bit and leaned forward to eye his best friend. "I'm still kind of curious though..."

The Chronicler ended up hugging the cushion in his hands as he shook his head. "He... he said telling anyone would threaten more than privacy... I didn't want anyone to get hurt. But Turaga Nokama kind of interrogated me with the all-powerful stare she's got, so I told her what happened. Turaga Vakama made me tell him too when I got back home."

"Ah." Pohatu said quietly, nodding a little. "That sounds pretty rough. This spooky guy didn't threaten you though, did he?"

"Kind of." Takua confessed. "He said everything and everyone I love would die if I didn't find 'the miraculous within the mundane' in the volcano. That crown was hidden in a boring looking totem thing, so I guess I found what he wanted me to find. Does this mean we won?"

"I hope it does." Jaller put in, frowning as he spoke. "Because nobody gets away with threatening my family. Ever."

Pohatu couldn't help but smile at Jaller's enthusiasm, almost as if it reminded him of something. "Don't lose that fire, Jaller." He said, fondly ruffling the seventeen year old's already messy hair. "It will take you farther than you could ever begin to guess." He paused a moment before smiling a bit more. "I honestly wish your father could see you right now; he'd be so proud of who you've grown up to be." He looked at Takua. "He'd probably be proud of you, too."

"Me?" Takua asked, blinking a couple times. "Why me? I never met Jaller's dad."

"Perhaps not, but you have a strong heart and a wild spirit, two things he prized greatly." Pohatu paused, and then added with a chuckle. "He also had a disregard for rules and personal safety." The Toa hugged the teenagers and sighed. "Yep, Mihkoro would be proud of you both. I know your uncle is, even if he doesn't show it all that well.

"Speaking of," Jaller murmured with a small nod toward the kitchen doorway. "he's coming back."

Sure enough, Turaga Vakama was entering the living room, an absolutely glorious frown on his face and his eyes fixed on Tahu and Gali, who by now were simply standing and glaring at each other. Pohatu was barely able to stop himself from grinning, and Jaller had a decent guess by the trembling he felt from the Toa that what was about to happen was something he'd been looking forward to seeing for quite some time.

Vakama cleared his throat loudly to ensure he was the center of attention before saying with an almost eerie sense of calm. "We Turaga have come to a conclusion."

Gali and Tahu looked over at once, the former of the pair seeming relieved. "What have you discerned? What do the runes say?"

"We don't actually know yet."

"Then what's the hold up?" Tahu demanded. "What's the problem?"

Jaller blinked and spared Pohatu a glance, having heard a quiet 'snirk' noise from his general direction. Sure enough, the twenty-eight year old practically had his fist in his mouth to try and stop from laughing.

All attention launched back to the Turaga as he quite suddenly whacked Tahu in the head with his staff, sparks shooting from the tip of it on impact. "You are the problem, you insufferable pinhead! You and Gali have scarce stopped arguing since you met up and we are sick of it! Every time we start making any sense of that crown, you two start snapping at each other like two highly irritable gukkos! Now we have been extremely patient with your stupidity, but enough is enough! Any Unity you two had has taken flight and I doubt even the riders of Le-Koro could track it down!"

Tahu stuttered nonsensical shock for a moment, but it seemed Vakama was far from finished because he slammed the butt of his staff on the floor to silence the stunned Toa before him. "Tahu, you were always a handful but even your child self couldn't top this level of arrogant stupidity! You had so much potential and THIS is what happens? For shame!" He then rounded on the presently silent Water Toa. "And you! I don't even know how you went so astray! You were more personable than Tahu ever was, and this is what you spend your breath on? Even the Makuta could do better than this!"

By now his eyes were practically glowing with fury. "After everything you two went through, everything Toa Lhikan taught you, this is how you honor that memory?! Out! Out with you!"

Gali cringed as she took a couple steps back. "Turaga, I-"

"OUT!"

In a mere few seconds, Gali and Tahu had retreated outside, chased out by the rather irate and fed up Turaga. Once the door was closed, Vakama sighed in quiet relief. "Finally some actual work can be done..."

Pohatu and the two Matoran watched as Vakama headed back to the kitchen, each holding their breath until he vanished from sight. That was when Pohatu started snickering. "Best. Rant. Ever."


	7. Chapter 7: Game of Roles

By the time Turaga Nokama had finished translating the runes, Jaller and Pohatu had both drifted off to sleep, the latter of the pair snoring quietly and seeming to have a small bead of spit threatening to slide down his cheek. Takua normally would've laughed at the pair, particularly the island protector and his less-than-classy situation, but at the present the Chronicler was having trouble finding it in himself to smile. That crown had caused a lot of grief so far, simply due to being mentioned. Was it really valuable enough to deal with arguing Toa, a tournament game he utterly botched up, a creepy figure who only spoke in vague riddles, and – the biggest point – nearly burning to death in a river of lava? Was any accessory really worth that much stress?

' _At least it's over now.'_ He thought with a faint sigh, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his messy blond hair. _'Everything will be back to normal soon, and I can leave it all behind me.'_

But what if it wasn't all over? What if there was more that had to be done? That mysterious stranger had made the crown out to be a really big deal; what if this was only the beginning of the problem?

' _I did my part.'_ He concluded. _'That creepy person only told me to get the relic, not what to do with it once I had it. The Toa can deal with it now, like they always do.'_ A tiny smile formed on his face. Yes, that was how it would be. He only had to start things, and the Toa could handle the rest. Just like it always happened.

"I see your friends drifted off on you, Takua."

The teenager blinked and looked up, finding himself watching as Turaga Vakama walked closer and sat down on the arm of the couch beside his adopted nephew. "Oh, hey Uncle Vakama." Takua said quietly, smiling a little more. "How's the translating going?"

"Nokama just finished." The thirty-nine year old replied with a small chuckle. "Thank you for being more patient than our resident Toa was. And not as noisy."

"It's a miracle, I know." Takua commented, offering a faint and half-hearted laugh. "I'm usually as quiet as an upset kane-ra. But after seeing you run Toa Tahu and Toa Gali out of the house, I decided that I rather enjoyed not having a headache."

Vakama smiled fondly at this, chuckling again as he remarked. "You always were a fast learner. But something seems to be troubling you. Is it the kolhii match? Or is it everything that happened before that?"

The teenager grimaced and looked at the floor. "Both, and more." He confessed. "I can't shake what that figure said before I found the blasted crown. About the doom of the island unless that relic was found... Do you think he was exaggerating? Sure the crown is flashy, but is it really such a big deal? And why single out me to find it? Why would having the Toa get it be so bad?"

"We will discuss the relic once Pohatu and Jaller are awake." The Turaga soothed. "As for the rest of your concerns, it is likely that he singled you out because of your knack for finding things other people might miss. And, perhaps, the fact you don't mind breaking rules to get where you want or need to go. Those are traits that make excellent Chroniclers and treasure seekers; it makes them willing to go that much further in order to find the truth."

Takua mulled that over in silence for a little while. It made sense now that it had been explained, and as he considered it more he came to the conclusion that a Toa simply just wouldn't have done the job right. But it also made him wonder something else. "Was Jaller's dad a Chronicler? Jaller doesn't talk about him much, but Toa Pohatu said it was traits like those that he prized."

Vakama hesitated a moment before sighing quietly, his smile fading as he replied. "He wasn't, no. Mihkoro was a different kind of person. A truth-seeker, yes, but not a Chronicler. He focused more on the future than what led up to it. He always had some question or another that he was trying to figure out, and often times he would question his own life's purpose. I never found out if he got his answers in the end. I can only hope he had some sort of self satisfaction before he passed... He didn't have a happy life."

"Were you close?" Takua asked. "You don't talk about him much either but you were brothers."

"Our relationship was... complicated." The Turaga replied. "I didn't get to know him as deeply as I wanted to, but we had a reasonable connection in spite of it. You probably would have liked him, actually. I know you two would have gotten into a lot of adventures together if he were still alive. In fact, I'm fairly certain he would have been very intrigued by your latest find."

Pohatu gave a sudden snort and mumbled a barely coherent 'whuzzat?' as he slowly blinked awake, wiping his mouth absently as he sat up a bit. "Did I miss anything?" Even as he slurred out his question, he was giving Jaller a small shake so he roused as well.

Vakama chuckled at the state of his nephew and the Toa. "Not entirely, no. But I was starting to wonder if you would actually come back on your own. Nokama has finished the translation; she and Onewa are just giving it one last look over before they share it. I was about to call the other Toa so they could hear as well."

"Aw, do you have to?" The Stone Toa asked jokingly. "I like it when they're gone."

"You and many others, I'm sure." Vakama replied as he got up. "But I Stand by what I said, and now I am making good on it.

A couple minutes found them all in Vakama's living room, the three Toa all on the couch – Onewa also insisted on having Tahu and Gali sit beside each other, much to their discomfort as well as Pohatu's glee – with Jaller and Takua squished into one armchair – also to Pohatu's unending amusement simply due to how tight the fit was – while Nokama comfortably reclined in the other, leaving the remaining Turaga on their feet. Vakama left the talking to Onewa, positioning himself near the couch rather than the center of the room, likely to make sure bickering did not ensue.

Needless to say, Pohatu was grinning.

"So," Turaga Onewa began. "now that we're all settled and comfortable," he glanced at the Toa with mild satisfaction as he said this. "we can actually discuss what it is Takua uncovered." He held up the mildly glowing crown. "And believe me when I say that it is going to change a lot of things. As I'm sure everyone remembers, Vakama had a vision shortly after we arrived and got settled on the island. One about a Seventh Toa. It seems the time has come." He gestured to the crown in his hand. "This is the Kanohi Avohkii; the Great Mask of Light. As such, it seems clear that the Seventh Toa will be truly one of a kind; a Toa of Light."

Predictably, the Toa and Matoran were surprised – if not startled – by the news. "A Seventh Toa?" Tahu repeated. "Here? Now? Where are they going to show up? And why now of all times? Everything is at peace, and the Makuta's threats are long gone."

Onewa rolled his eyes. "If this new Toa was just going to arrive out of nowhere, I doubt we would have found their Kanohi. No, the Seventh Toa is going to be the biggest treasure hunt that our island has ever endured; someone has to find them."

"Great!" Pohatu said eagerly. "Where should we start? Any ideas?"

"It won't be your hunt to make, actually." Nokama put in. "The Avohkii chose a herald already, and it is up to him to find the mask's rightful bearer."

All eyes turned to Takua and Jaller at once. The Chronicler panicked. What if they thought it was him? He was the one who'd found it after all! Thinking fast, he said quickly. "You mean that blaring light it shone on Jaller was it choosing him? Wow Jaller, that's awesome! Lucky you!"

"Wh-what?" Jaller spluttered. "Me? No way, I wasn't the one who found it!"

"But shiny lights, Jaller!" Takua piped hastily. "It was shining at you!"

"You pushed it!"

The Chronicler looked to the Turaga that were present. "Does this mean Jaller's going on an adventure of his own? I hope he keeps a journal because I want to read all about this later."

Jaller spluttered indignant and frustrated noises for a moment before pausing and giving his best friend the sort of smirk that told all too plainly that revenge was nigh. "But Takua, isn't that YOUR job? You are the Chronicler. Since when do you hide from history in the making?"

Pohatu watched the bickering pair with a raised eyebrow, not seeming entirely sure if he should be amused or merely intrigued. "Sheesh, never thought I'd see the day where a guard wanted to avoid his duty, and the Chronicler wanted to avoid recording it. What next? Tahu and Gali miraculously getting along for longer than ten minutes?"

Before either of the other Toa could retort, Onewa remarked loudly. "Excellent idea, Jaller. You follow the mask, and Takua follows you in the name of accurate historical records. Besides, you two will probably need to rely on each other to find the Seventh Toa; I doubt it will be easy."

"I suggest you start to prepare for your expedition as quickly as possible." Vakama added, further denying Tahu and Gali their chance to retaliate on Pohatu. "You will want to head out as soon as possible."

"We'll leave tomorrow morning." Takua mumbled dejectedly, only to drop further into poutdom as Jaller boldly declared.

"No, we leave tonight. Uncle Vakama said as soon as possible, so that's what we'll do. Come on Takua!" He pried himself out of the armchair after that, accepting the Avohkii from Onewa before heading to his room – which he shared with Takua whenever he wasn't off on a gallivant – to begin preparations.

Takua stayed seated, hardly even hearing the Turaga as they turned their attention to whatever the Toa needed to be told. This wasn't what he wanted; he'd done his part already! Finding the Seventh Toa wasn't something he wanted to do, not after the dark figure had scared him so badly about the Avohkii! What if he failed?!

' _Breathe, Takua.'_ He thought shakily. _'Jaller's the herald, I'm the sidekick. Jaller's got it covered.'_ But even as he got up and slowly headed for Jaller's room, he couldn't help but feel a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. One that left him wondering...

Was Jaller really the herald? Or had Takua just saddled his best friend with his own destiny?


	8. Chapter 8: Want and Wonder

"Tahu?"

"Yes Pohatu?"

"I seriously want one of these."

Nothing could rival the sheer exasperation that came from him as Tahu sighed and shook his head. After the meeting, Gali, Pohatu, and Tahu, had decided they would be there to see of Jaller and Takua. Of course, this meant that it was also up to them to keep Pewku occupied until her owner was ready to go. This also mean that most of Pohatu's sense of logic seemed – in Tahu's opinion – to completely disappear.

"You don't need an ussal, Pohatu."

The Stone Toa laughed from his perch on Pewku's broad shell, grinning as he lavished affection on Takua's arguably spoiled pet. "I know that. But come on, you can't tell me that riding an ussal isn't fun."

Tahu frowned and crossed his arms. Sure, it did look like it had the potential to be fun, but – as anyone on the island could easily attest to – he was not much of an animal person. At all. He hadn't been since the time the Makuta more or less tried killing them with infected rahi. "I don't like pets, Pohatu. Pewku is cute enough I guess, but she's still a rahi."

"Aw, don't listen to him Pewku." Pohatu cooed as the ussal chirped almost mournfully. "He can't help that he's a stick in the mud. I still like you!"

Tahu rolled his eyes and shook his head as he turned to look for any sign of Takua and Jaller. He didn't blame Pohatu for his commentary in spite of how tiring it was to hear whenever the topic came up. Far from it, in fact. The Toa of Stone had always had a thing for outdoorsy stuff, animals included. Tahu couldn't think of any rahi that Pohatu actually hated – aside for maybe Visorak – which in many cases was likely a very good thing. There had been quite a few occasions where Pohatu was involved in stopping rahi-related problems, all over the island.

But Tahu wasn't like Pohatu, and having a crazed creature attempt to kill you repeatedly was enough to put almost anyone off the animal wagon. He could remember – quite vividly – how many times he'd nearly been mauled to death by a variety of unpleasant and particularly violent rahi, as well as how incredibly painful it was, both during the event and healing from it. Not only that, but he'd even seen a few unfortunate matoran who hadn't been as lucky to survive as he had. The memories of that alone was still enough to give him nightmares. One in particular stood out as clear as day in his mind, even though it had been several years since he'd found the body.

It was impossible to forget the face of a friend, even when they hadn't been able to remember growing up with you. Nako had always been close with Tahu, and even though his time in a capsule had erased his memories, the matoran had been able to rebuild the friendship he never knew he'd lost. Discovering Nako's body had been a blow too powerful to release.

"Tahu? Are you alright?"

Gali had come closer and was studying her Brother's expression carefully. She was one of the few who really knew how badly Nako's death impacted him. "Bad memories?"

"I'm fine." Tahu replied, putting on his best bold face as he pushed the thoughts aside. "Nothing to worry about." He paused however, and then gave Gali a small smile. "Thanks for your concern."

The Water Toa smiled lightly in return. "I know you would do the same for me." She too hesitated, watching Pohatu and Pewku for a while before her smile faded. "Do you think Vakama was right? About our Unity I mean. Pohatu's comments from earlier only seemed to solidify it."

Tahu honestly hadn't thought about it much until now. He hadn't really needed to. "I think they're right, to an extent." He said finally, glancing at Pohatu before looking back at Gali. "We aren't as close as we used to be. But I doubt we will have many issues with it. Our team has always been a bit scrambled as it is anyway, and we've always pulled through just fine."

"Perhaps." She replied, though she didn't sound entirely convinced. "We weren't exactly shining examples today though."

"Gali, we're competitive by nature and it was the biggest match in the tournament." Tahu pointed out. "I think the only one of us who doesn't get a competitive streak of any sort during kolhii matches is probably Pohatu. Onua's even pointed that one out."

Gali giggled a bit and shook her head. "You're right, Tahu. We'll just have to keep our pride in check and we should be just fine." She laughed a bit more. "Though it's probably not going to be all that easy."

"Gah! Pewku no!"

Tahu and Gali both turned and looked towards their Brother, just in time to see him get pounced and more or less sat on by his present playmate. It seemed that he had fallen off Pewku at some point, and now the ussal was taking every advantage she could to show Pohatu just how friendly she was, including licking his face.

"Blaaaaah! Tahu, Gali! Help me!"

Tahu laughed and shook his head. "Sorry Brother, I'm not much of an animal person."

"You're no help at all!"

"Not my job to save you from the Chronicler's pet."

"This is revenge for my comments earlier, isn't it?!"

Tahu hadn't even thought of that, though it certainly did seem fitting enough to be called karma of some form or another. "So Gali," the Fire Toa asked loudly, still grinning as he turned to regard her. "how long do you think it will take for Takua and Jaller to be ready?"

There was no missing the impish smile on his Sister's face. "Long enough for Pohatu to try and get out of his present mess, I think. Besides, it's not like Pewku is really doing anything to him."

"Not you too!"

Luckily for Pohatu his salvation was nigh, as it was at this point that Jaller, Takua, Vakama, and Hahli, made their arrival. At once, Pewku scrambled off her sufficiently cuddled perch and bounded over to greet her master with all the enthusiasm of a Le-Matoran party-goer. Pohatu soon joined his Siblings, wiping spit off his face as he coughed out a vague laugh. "Why is it that you two only remember your Unity when I'm in need of saving and you aren't inclined to do so?"

"It could have been worse." Gali teased. "She could have decided to take a nap."

The Toa of Stone shuddered. "Why must you always make sense?"

"Probably because she uses her brain more than we do." Tahu pointed out. "She's kept us alive how many times now? Anyway, I take it you two will be leaving once Takua and Jaller set out?"

Gali nodded. "I am, yes. I want to go to Kini Nui and do some thinking. A lot has happened in a very short time."

"Do as you please, Gali." Pohatu said with a grin. "I'm going to drop in on Onua to tell him what's happening. He'll probably be excited about it. At least, as excited as Onua ever really gets. You know how he is."

Tahu laughed quietly and nodded. "I do. Honestly I'm not sure if he knows how to be excited." He paused, and then added. "Speaking of no emotional awareness, are you going to tell Kopaka as well?"

"Oh that's just mean." Pohatu chided. "You know Kopaka has emotions. He just doesn't express them frequently, that's all. But yes, I aim to tell him about it too, if Nuju didn't see it in the stars already. He's been doing a lot of stargazing lately, according to Kopaka. Apparently he's under the impression that something bad is going to happen soon, and going by what Kopaka told me last time I visited, I don't entirely blame him."

Gali grimaced at that. "Any idea what that danger might be?"

The Stone Toa shook his head. "Not really, no. But apparently Nuju got a creepy warning about a dark lord. Remember? I said that at the kolhii match."

"Do you think someone should warn Kopaka about it right away?" She asked.

"Nah, he'll be fine. This is Kopaka we're talking about; for all we know he's already aware of the problem. It wouldn't surprise me, considering how much stargazing Nuju's been doing."

"Hey Hahli! You owe me a rematch!"

IT seemed that goodbyes were being said, and Jaller's pride refused to let the tournament loss go unchallenged. "When I get back, we're playing again!"

Hahli giggled impishly at him, lightly punching his arm as she teased. "Better not be too long then, because while you're off saving the world, Macku and I will be practicing."

"Aw, you're going to practice without me?" Jaller groaned. "Not fair, Hahli; I want to practice too!"

Takua grinned. "Why? So you can watch her and forget to protect the goal?"

"T-Takua!"

Tahu laughed and shook his head. "And on that lovely start to their adventure, I should go make sure nobody who's staying here is getting into trouble. Best of luck to you both with your endeavors." With that, he turned and set off, already wondering what sort of chaos anyone celebrating might get into. Even as he went, however, he heard the last couple phrases of his Siblings' conversation.

"I'm still worried about Kopaka." Gali said grimly. "If Turaga Nuju is seeing danger in the stars, what if Kopaka gets attacked?"

"I'm sure he's going to be fine." Pohatu assured, though he too sounded a bit concerned as well. "Kopaka's fought through a lot of things on his own before, even when he didn't know it was coming. I'm sure that anything he could possibly get into will be no match for him whatsoever."

Tahu frowned a little as he thought about what he'd just heard. He wasn't particularly worried about Kopaka, of course, but Gali's concern definitely did make him wonder, not to mention the recollection of Turaga Nuju's 'dark lord rising' omen. Surely that was just paranoia...

Right?


	9. Chapter 9: Shadow and Rage

"Turaga Nuju says-"

"Toa Kopaka says your father is a twit."

An indignant trill resounded and the matoran translator cringed. "I'd rather not say what that meant..."

Kopaka was frowning as he stood before Turaga Nuju and Matoro, his arms crossed and general expression as frigid as the element he wielded. Every time Nuju wanted to speak with him, the forty-one year old insisted on using his bird noises to communicate, even when Kopaka was – aside from Matoro – the only one present. For the first several years of being on Mata Nui, Kopaka merely indulged the Turaga's whims, deciding it was either an after-effect of being a Hordika, or a coping mechanism to help him get past his wife's death during the Visorak crisis. But it had been thirteen years now. Thirteen long years of Nuju refusing to use his regular voice around anyone but Matoro. Thirteen years of relying on a translator because Nuju was too stubborn to be normal.

Kopaka decided he'd played the Turaga's game long enough.

"If Nuju doesn't think this is important enough to speak plainly about, I don't need to hear it."

Nuju glared at him, whistling scathingly at the Toa who stood before him.

"He says you're being foolish about this."

"I say he's the foolish one for not thinking I'm worth speaking to directly." Kopaka replied.

More angry bird sounds that went untranslated.

Matoro shifted uncomfortably. "Can we please not get into a fight over this? Something really serious is going on."

The Ice Toa glanced at him. "I'm not the one with a superiority complex. Why don't you tell me what's happening instead, if it's so important?"

The teenager bit his lip, glancing at Nuju – who was now warbling something that was probably rather impolite – before returning his gaze to the Toa in front of him. "He... He saw something in the stars earlier. They told him of a terrible danger that was going to threaten our village."

Matoro hesitated again, once more glancing at his seething father before speaking up. "An avalanche. A really big avalanche."

Kopaka raised an eyebrow. That was the danger? Seriously? Avalanches were child's play to him. "That's the big scare? How is that any worse than what I usually do around here? If the only danger is an avalanche, you wasted time calling me here." He turned to leave Nuju's house, shaking his head and frowning. "You've spent too many nights without sleep, Nuju; you need to take a break from your worrying and start being a normal person like everyone else."

A sudden and incredibly firm hand caught his shoulder, and a voice he hadn't heard for thirteen years spoke, the tone grave and quiet. "This is no mere avalanche, Kopaka. Something far more sinister is at its root, and I fear that whatever it is may be too powerful for you to face alone."

The Toa of Ice paused to consider this warning. He had dealt with a lot of threats on his own before, many of which more than capable of killing him and some even nearly succeeding. But he had never been cautioned about them before, not like this. He turned to face the Turaga again, his own expression grim. "What is this thing you speak of?"

"I do not know." Nuju confessed. "The stars gave me no name or species."

"Did they say anything else that could help? Anything at all?"

The Turaga hesitated before responding. "Two words were given to me, though I do not know their relevance; shadow, and rage."

Kopaka's frown grew. That wasn't a lot to work with, not enough to earn him any solid conclusions at the very least. "Do you have any ideas on what this could even mean?"

"Only one." Nuju replied solemnly. "And I can only pray I'm wrong."

"And?"

"I fear the Makuta has returned."

^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Everything was quiet that night, save for the howling of the wind and the soft crunch of snow beneath Kopaka's feet. The lack of general life wasn't unusual this far up Mt. Ihu; part of why Ko-Koro was built so high up was to help with avoiding most of the predatory rahi. But even as he proceeded up the slopes to locate the start of the predicted avalanche, Kopaka could tell something was wrong. The shadows seemed to grow steadily darker with every step he made, far darker than was normal and especially so for a clear night such as this one was. Even the howl of the wind seemed muted, and that was not something that normally happened. In fact, as far as the Ice Toa could remember, it had never been anything quite like this before.

' _Perhaps Nuju's fears were right.'_ He thought grimly, his crystal blue eyes glowing as he activated his mask power and searched his surroundings for threats. So far, everything seemed to be fine. The fact it seemed that way wasn't comforting.

' _The calm before a storm.'_

A sudden shifting in the snow up ahead caught his attention, drawing him to focus more on what was possibly there than whether or not Nuju's concerns were well founded. But what he saw was enough to make even Kopaka's blood run cold. There beneath the snow, the Toa of Ice could see a disembodied hand, the fingers moving about in the snow and giving off small bursts of what seemed to be fire, though it was hard to tell for certain. "What in Mata Nui's name...?"

Suddenly, the snow beneath Kopaka's feet shifted, sinking a bit and sliding just enough that the Toa nearly fell over. Now Kopaka realized what the disembodied hand was doing. IT was softening the snow, just enough to make it easy to slide.

It was trying to start an avalanche, and Ko-Koro was right in its path.

"I don't care how creepy that thing is, nothing threatens MY village."

Focusing his power, the Toa of Ice began to harden and separate the snow beneath and around him, willing it to rise and whirl about him like a tornado comprised of powder. As he did this, Kopaka heard a dark and sinister laugh, echoing around him and making it impossible to really tell which direction it was coming from. "So, the reclusive Toa of Ice has decided to come out and play." The voice mocked. "That's just lovely. I see you have your hands full with my avalanche in the making; why don't you set it down so we can chat?"

Kopaka bristled at the sound, his eyes narrowing as he packed the whirling snow into itself and formed several jagged spikes of ice. "Why don't you reveal yourself to me first?" He responded sharply. "And tell me why you were trying to destroy Ko-Koro while you're at it."

The voice chuckled darkly, sounding sadistic and gleeful about the Toa's words. "Destroy Ko-Koro? Hardly. I knew you would come up here the moment trouble started, whether that twittering fool foresaw it or not. I don't care about your precious little village; I wanted YOU. And now..."

The voice laughed again. "Now you can't escape."

Suddenly and without warning, a massive circle of jet black flames sprang up around Kopaka, trapping him in the center with no way of getting out. Even as the ebony fire rose, the Toa of Ice could feel the tremendous heat created by their sudden appearance, almost stricken dizzy by the rapid change of temperature. Drawing his sword and shield, Kopaka quickly looked around, trying to find the source of the fire and wondering just what kind of trap he had walked into. Soon his gaze fell to a tall figure, wreathed in darkness and holding a large glaive at the ready. Glowing red eyes shone from beneath the black shroud like beacons of malice, as though the only reason they shone was in anticipation of causing destruction. An air of incredible power hovered about the stranger, ominous and hateful while also promising doom upon anyone who dared try to fight back.

Kopaka took a couple steps backward, his eyes wide with horror. Only once had he encountered an evil such as this, and it had been enough to shatter any courage he'd had at the time. Memories from twenty long years ago flooded his mind, dragging the murder of his sisters to the forefront of his thought processes. This was the being that had mercilessly slaughtered his family and plunged Kopaka's life into chaos. This was the being that had mocked him and hunted him across Metru Nui, forcing him to run for his life in the earliest morning hours until he could finally find a Toa to help him.

Nuju was right; the Makuta had returned.

"Ah, so you do remember me after all this time." The figure jeered. "You still remember the screaming and massacre as though it had only just happened. So do I. I still revel in the event. Their sheer helplessness as I tore their lives asunder is as much music to me now as it was then. And now here we are, just as we were so many years ago. But now you have nowhere to run. No friends to save you. You are alone, just the way you like to be. And it terrifies you."

Kopaka shuddered as he struggled to maintain his focus. He had to protect himself, and anyone else this horrific being might target! He had to put his fear aside!

' _But he killed everyone, and now he's come to finish the job.'_

No. He could do this. Kopaka was stronger than he had been before. He was a Toa now, not a matoran.

' _He will slaughter you and everyone you care about. It's hopeless.'_

The twenty-eight year old could feel his hands trembling, threatening to drop his only means of defense against the monster before him. What if he really couldn't win? What if this being really would kill him while he couldn't escape? Did he even stand a chance against something this powerful?

The figure chuckled as he watched Kopaka struggle, starting to slowly draw nearer to the virtually paralyzed Toa before him. "You are weak, Kopaka." He said, his voice dripping with sadistic pleasure. "You couldn't save your sisters before, and you cannot save yourself now. If you surrender now, I'll make sure you don't suffer long. You'll probably even die faster than your friends will. I've been wanting to hear Gali scream for years; maybe she'll sound even sweeter than your sisters did."

Kopaka had been about to drop his weapons until he heard that. Fiery anger that could likely even make Tahu pale in comparison flared up within him as his grip grew firm and unshaking, his piercing eyes narrowing considerably as he regained a battle-ready posture. Without warning he thrust his sword forward, his barrage of ice spikes hurtling toward the shadowed being at an alarming speed. He didn't even bother to see if his attacks would land first as he charged after the shards, sword raised to continue the onslaught.

The figure merely laughed before vanishing, rising from Kopaka's own shadow and striking from behind with a large knife rather than his glaive. Kopaka let out a yell of pain as the blade sunk into his right shoulder, the sudden impact and change of arrangement happening too quickly for his anger-clouded mind to react and predict the actions before they occurred. Dropping his sword, the Ice Toa turned and swung his shield in the hopes of smashing his assailant with it, a dull thud and a grunt proving that the shield had found its mark. Kopaka picked up his sword again, gritting his teeth at the searing pain that shot up and down his right arm as he turned and braced himself to keep fighting.

His readiness proved to be a lifesaver, allowing the Ice Toa to raise his shield just in time to block the figure's glaive as it crashed down towards his head. However, even with this the impact of the blow was enough to badly jar his arm as well as dent his shield. Gasping at the sheer force and staggering backward, Kopaka could feel his arm throbbing and tingling as it tried to recover from the strike. If he couldn't find a way to end this battle soon, he very well could end up dying, and in his own territory!

Kopaka wasn't offered a chance to think long though, because he swiftly found himself having to drop his sword again in favor of bracing his shield against another strike from the glaive. Pain coursed through him as the weapon struck, his knees buckling and giving out under the strength of his attacker. Falling backwards and lying in a crumpled heap, Kopaka could barely see past the pain induced tears that were trying to well up in his eyes and obscure his vision more than it may already have been. Blindly he drove his hands into the snow beneath him, forcing sporadic and scattered spikes of ice to thrust up around him in a last ditch effort to protect himself.

His attempt failed. Just as the Toa started to try and get up, the glaive's sharp and slightly jagged head moved into his line of sight, hovering mere inches from his neck. The figure leaned over to stare into Kopaka's face, the shadows around his head receding just enough to reveal a smirk. "Nice try, kid, but your little game of hero has come to an end. Such a shame; I thought you had the most promise in your team."

Kopaka shifted slightly, coughing as he tried to come up with a new way to escape, but no ideas worked. Regardless of the attempts he could try, the final blow was never his. This would be the last moments of his life, and they would be spent knowing that his entire team, practically his family, would be hunted down and killed one by one. Letting out a shaky sigh, the twenty-eight year old closed his eyes and waited for it all to end.

The figure chuckled. "What's the matter, boy? No final pleas for mercy or prayers for deliverance? No biting remarks about how I should rot in the Pit for all the pain I've put you through? I'm disappointed."

"I thought you wanted to kill me." Kopaka replied grimly. "So why should I bother with wasted words when I know the outcome will not change? Though tell me something before I die. Just one thing."

"And what could a dead man want to know? It won't matter soon anyway. But fine, I may as well humor you before you go."

Kopaka opened his eyes and glared at his assailant with all the loathing he could draw forth. "Why would the Makuta send a coward like you to kill me?"

The figure seemed taken aback, blinking a couple times before glowering. "You dare call me a coward when I am mere moments from claiming your head?"

"Yes."

"On what grounds do you think that could stand on?" He seethed.

"It's simple." Kopaka replied sharply. "Only a coward hesitates in claiming responsibility for their actions and words. Given that I am still alive, I have every reason to believe you don't have the guts to kill me."

The glaive at his neck trembled slightly, but its owner didn't answer.

"What are you waiting for?" Kopaka pressed. "Are you going to kill me or not? Just standing there is only further proving my point."

Again the glaive shook, and again there was no answer. Turmoil was easy to read in the glowing eyes and faintly exposed face.

"You really don't have the backbone to do it, do you?" The Ice Toa hissed. "You're terrified of me. Terrified of killing me and actually making good on your words."

"Shut up, Toa."

"Why should I? I'm not afraid of you. You can't even kill someone when you say you're going to."

"I said shut up!"

Stabbing pain rippled up Kopaka's leg as he felt the stranger's knife get driven into his thigh, the Toa of Ice barely holding back his own agonized yell. Growling and hissing through his teeth, Kopaka fought through the pain, using it to fuel his angered tones instead as he snapped. "Then kill me already! If you wanted me silent, you would have silenced me yourself! Go on! Kill me and be done with it!"

However, even as Kopaka lay beaten and bleeding in the snow, the figure backed away, withdrawing his glaive and glaring in frustrated anger. "This isn't over, Toa! Mark my words, this is just the beginning, and you will be dead before the end!" As he spoke these final words, the figure stepped through the ring of black fire and vanished. The flames soon faded with him, until all that was left was silence, and the knowledge that - somehow – Kopaka had been able to cheat death. But now he had a new problem.

How was he going to return home?


	10. Chapter 10: Reflecting Adventures

Lewa couldn't help but sigh in contentment as he lounged on one of the massive leaves that shaded part of his village. The last several years had been good to the Toa of Air; having no impending threats since the Bohrok Kal meant he could relax and enjoy life to his heart's content, as well as get past the fact that, during the times of serious danger, he had more or less been mind controlled. Twice. Even after so many years, the greyish smear along his jaw line betrayed the previous presence of a shadow-infected mask, something so horrible that even now he occasionally had nightmares about it. Not to mention the ridges of small bumps that encircled his eyes like scars, showing where the small barbs of a krana had hooked into his skin to make it that much harder to tear off. It had been, perhaps, one of the most harrowing experiences of his life, and it left him constantly uneasy whenever he recalled the feeling of having no control, only being able to watch helplessly as his body acted upon a will he had no desire to follow.

Lewa shuddered slightly and shook his head. This wasn't the time to be dwelling on such thoughts. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and all of Le-Koro seemed alive with activity. Not only that, but his brothers were finally beginning to remember they were actually related to him. Some more swiftly than others due to how little time they had actually spent in capsules thirteen years ago. Even Komari – the first of his brothers to be captured – was starting to slowly remember him.

Yes, it was definitely a good day, and the fact that the final match in the kolhii tournament was going to happen this afternoon excited him to no end. As it was, he and Turaga Matau had already made a bet against each other about who would win. Matau had put his money on Po-Koro, and had been quite confident that his choice was the obvious winner. He had a good reason for it too; Hewkii and Hafu had been playing for years, and while the Ta-Koro team was good and Macku was a veteran player herself, Po-Koro had a blatant edge over everyone else.

But Lewa knew better than to bet on the obvious. His whole life had been a blaring testament that underdogs should never be underestimated, and all he had to do was look at his own team to see it. Kopaka had been a terrified and traumatized orphan. Tahu was the child his parents had no time for. Gali's family was so normal and boring they were forgettable. Pohatu couldn't save his ailing mother from the illness that claimed her in spite of his frantic attempts and downright unhealthy overworking to pay for medicine. Onua had been a street kid since he was nine. Lewa himself had been the youngest child of six before he'd become a Toa. With a lineup like that, nobody could've had high hopes for their survival.

And yet they had proven to be more powerful and successful than anyone could have ever guessed. Instead of an inglorious crash and burn, the Toa Mata had risen to and surpassed every challenge they faced, regardless of the hazards that had gotten in their way, and now could all proudly admit that they were not only Toa Nuva, but had also earned it.

It was using this logic that led Lewa to put his money on Hahli and Macku. Besides, not many people could say that their little sister had made it to the 'big league', let alone the final match of the tournament, and what kind of sibling would he be if he didn't bet on his sister's team? Matau's widgets were as good as his, and Lewa already knew exactly what he was going to spend them on. A perfect little present for his perfect little sister. And something for Macku too of course. It would be wrong of him not to buy them both a congratulations present. Yes, he even had the presents picked out; two matching bracelets made from fancifully colored beads, each one wooden and carved with the utmost care. Lewa even had the foresight to get them set aside for him, just to be certain he could specifically get those two bracelets in particular.

"Lewa?! Where are you?!"

The Toa of Air perked up right away, recognizing the voice to be that of Hlahlu's. Ever since they had arrived from their exodus, the little Ga-Matoran had been living in Le-Koro, and over time Matau had been able to fully rebuild his relationship with her, as well as go beyond it. Now the pair were happily married, had two children, and a third child on the way. Needless to say, they were both very happy parents, and their children were as bright and energetic as could be.

"Coming, Hlahlu-Friend!"

Lewa wasted no time in sliding off his leafy perch, gracefully tumbling down to the walkway below and setting off toward Hlahlu, or at least where it sounded like she was. While her hair color – a beautiful shade of navy blue – was typically easy to spot amidst the sea of greens and light browns that made up Le-Koro and its populace, the fact that she was easily the shortest person on the island tended to make her harder to spot, and the general tallness of Le-Matoran only made it worse. Lewa had always found it amusing that Matau, the tallest Turaga second only to Nuju, had decided to marry who he personally believed was the smallest woman in the universe, though the Toa knew better than to poke fun at it, especially when the couple in question was so happy in spite of the differences between them.

It wasn't the only difference either. While Matau was still inclined to his pride – which had dwindled a bit since their arrival on Mata Nui – and occasional boasts, Hlahlu would blush even at the smallest of praises and refuse to admit she had done anything particularly noteworthy. Lewa had decided that, perhaps, it was for the best; this way Matau could bolster his wife's self esteem, while Hlahlu could ensure that her husband's never inflated too much.

"Lewa?!"

The good news was that she sounded like she was closer. The bad news was that she sounded like she may have been worrying about something.

The Toa activated his mask and drifted into the air so he could, with any luck, spot her more readily. Ever since he'd lost his wings, Lewa had struggled to find a way to reclaim his beloved flight, and it had been Onua who had suggested using his Miru in tandem with his air powers to more or less replicate the effect. In retrospect, Lewa owed his eldest Brother a great deal, especially after everything that'd happened since reaching Mata Nui and settling in. Perhaps he'd try to find something for Onua too...

There!

Lewa had caught sight of the Ga-Matoran he'd been looking for, pushing himself along until he was nearby, where he deactivated his mask and...

Thunk!

Groaning quietly as he picked himself up off the walkway planks, Lewa made a mental note to practice his landings sometime in the future. But at least Hlahlu knew where he now was, and soon the 5' tall woman was giggling up at him, albeit quietly. "I see you're still a bit clumsy." She teased. "Might want to fix that, lest you end up earning Matau's reputation from the days of old."

The Air Toa laughed at her words and shook his head. "I don't think I could claimsteal that from him, even with deliberate thoughtplanning." He replied. "Did you need something though? You were loudshouting for me."

Hlahlu nodded, fidgeting with her shirt sleeves a little as she replied. "Yes, actually. Mekoki and Kelvar ran off somewhere and I simply cannot find them. I'd track them down myself, but..." She looked down at herself, lightly resting her hands on the blatantly obvious baby bump she had.

Lewa couldn't help but grin. The 'Turaga tamer' – he had dubbed her this due to how readily she could keep Matau as in line as could be managed – had always been a fussy little thing, and having children only added to it. Before, she had been able to keep up with her youngsters without too much difficulty, but now that she was soon to deliver her third baby, Hlahlu simply couldn't keep up. "It's okayfine Hlahlu-Friend; I'll quickfind them for you and get 'em home safe."

She smiled almost sheepishly up at him. "Thanks, Lewa. I really do hate to bother you like this..."

"Bother me?" He repeated with a cheerful laugh. "Notnever! I'll quickfind them, just you sit tight!" With that and a cheeky salute, the twenty-seven year old turned and took off at a run, Hlahlu's giggles echoing after him. He had a guess – based on past episodes of kiddie catching – on just where the missing children may have run off to. As it was, little Mekoki absolutely loved birds no matter how big or small they were, and Kelvar – being the dutiful older brother that he was – always tagged along to make sure his sister would stay out of any seriously bad trouble.

The trick would be guessing which birds they were visiting. After all, the Le-Matoran did keep a fair few as pets and mounts. Usually the kids would end up playing with Kongu's gukko, but that was never a complete guarantee, given that Lewa's younger brother frequently went out and about, be it to deliver messages or simply for fun. Lewa just had to hope that Kongu wasn't out on a fly about.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what was happening, and the Turaga's children were nowhere in sight. Grimacing a little at this, Lewa turned and looked around for any sign of where they may have gone. Surely they couldn't be that far, right? Perhaps they were playing in the safety nets? Or even visiting Tamaru, or one of Lewa's siblings? Frowning a little and shaking his head, the Toa of Air set off again to scour the village for even just a trace of the missing children. He was bound to find them somewhere.

But he didn't. Even after recruiting several of the matoran to help him, nobody could find either of the children. Worry was setting in now, Lewa frantically going over every possibility of where Hlahlu's kids may have gone, and fighting to remain looking calm as he tried to organize his thoughts. He had checked every place Mekoki and Kevlar would normally go, twice even, and it was making him wonder just where he may have missed.

"ToaHero Lewa!"

He turned the moment he heard his name, semi-wild eyes alighting on Tamaru as he hurried closer, something clutched in his hands. "I just sawfound this in one of the lifts!"

To Lewa's horror, the height-fearing matoran held out a light pink ribbon, which was often used to hold Mekoki's hair back in a ponytail or braid. "Are you surecertain?" He asked lamely, reaching out to gingerly take the soft fabric from its locator.

"Evercertain." Tamaru replied, pointing toward the western lifts at the far edge of the village. "You... don't think they went into the deepwoods, do you?"

The Toa's gaze was fixed on the ribbon in his hands. "... I can't saytell..." He said quietly. "But I hope they didn't. Tamaru-friend, go find Hlahlu and tell her I'm going out to seeksearch. I'm not coming back until I wayfind them, or until someone finds them here in Le-Koro and lets me know. Understood?"

"Crystalclearly." Tamaru confirmed, tearing off to find Hlahlu without further discussion.

Lewa – satisfied as much as a worried Toa could be – turned his attention westward, racing along the lifts and leaping from the ledge with reckless abandon, only activating his mask when he was around ten feet away from a dangerous landing. If anything had happened to either of the children, he knew there would be no end of grief, his own included. They knew how dangerous it was out in the jungle! Why would they want to go out there anyway?!

Pok!

Lewa hit the brakes so fast he nearly did a header into the bushes. How had he forgotten about those?

Pok pok!

"Teehee! Kelvar it tickles!"

A surge of relief swept over him as the Toa breathed a long sigh. Of course the children would be down here and close by; there was a small colony of pokawi that lived almost directly under Le-Koro's trees. All it would take was a glimpse of the colorful little birds to entice a feather-loving child to try and find them. Unable to help himself, Lewa chuckled quietly as he made his way toward the sound of giggling children, gently pushing some of the underbrush aside and discovering a scene that he was sure could make even the coldest person smile.

No more than twenty feet away sat two children no older than six, presently quite surrounded by a flock of pokawi and both looking utterly delighted with themselves. Kelvar – a wild-eyed and untidy looking boy with messy, pale green hair – was laughing happily at his little sister, who seemed to be the preferred perch for the vibrantly colored rahi. One in particular – a lime green and lemon yellow one – had taken it upon itself to nestle down in Mekoki's wavy, strawberry blonde hair. IT was a mystery to all – including her mother – why the girl's hair was so unusually colored, given her heritage, but whatever the reason was, it apparently worked well enough to lead such a typically skittish bird to make a nest in it.

Pok!

Lewa started laughing, smiling broadly at the two children as they blinked and looked over, Kelvar beaming at him and waving. "Hellohi ToaHero Lewa! We found the birdies!"

Mekoki giggled, smiling gleefully as the pink and blue bird on her shoulder started playing with her hair. "They're so cute!"

"I can see that." Lewa teased, shaking his head at the scene before him. "But you two forgot to speaktell your mother what you were up to. She's all sadworried about you two running off!"

The pair blinked and looked awkwardly at each other, exchanging sheepish looks before extricating themselves from the pokawi flock. "Oops..." Kelvar mumbled. "Guess we oughta go find her then, huh?"

"Kelvar... it ain't leaving my head..."

Sure enough, the citrus-feathered rahi was refusing to get off Mekoki even when she stood up, something that had led the other ones to more or less scatter off into the undergrowth. The little girl looked hopefully up at Lewa, or at least as best she could with a bird nesting in her hair. "Can I keep it, Toa Lewa? Can I please?"

The twenty-seven year old was mildly surprised by the question. She needed to ask her parents for permission, not him. "Uh... surefine I guess?"

"Yay! I can't wait to show Mom and Dad! Let's go Pokki!" And with that, the little girl was off for the lifts, her brother right behind her and her pet warbling and pok-ing gleefully the whole time.

Lewa could only smile awkwardly as he followed after them, his relief at finding the children being replaced by an entirely new concern. What was Matau going to do about the new pet? And how likely would he try to smack Lewa for it?

"Maybe I should have dawdled..."


	11. Chapter 11: Love and War

Kopaka couldn't tell if he was still in pain or if he was finally going numb. How long had he been stumbling around, trying to make his way back to Ko-Koro? Had it been minutes or hours? Which direction was he even supposed to be going in? Had his wounds really made him this delirious? Surely he hadn't bled that much. Perhaps the heat of his assailant's flames was partially to blame. Yes, that seemed accurate. It was a mix between his injuries and the heat exposure, as well as being faced with his family's murderer. That had to be it.

The Toa gasped as his wounded leg gave out beneath him, dropping him into the powdery snow with nary a sound. Kopaka's ears were ringing by this point, most other noises sounding muted and distant from him. Even the howling wind of an approaching storm sounded so far away that he hardly registered it was even there. For what felt like an eternity, the twenty-eight year old lay there face down and struggling to build the strength to get back up again. He couldn't be that far from Ko-Koro now, could he? It had to be just a little further, just out of sight. He only had to go a little further.

Every muscle ached and pleaded for reset as Kopaka forced himself to stand again, his shoulder virtually radiating pain and his leg feeling as though it were on fire. Apparently he wasn't going numb yet. But he pushed through it all the same, just as he pushed through so many other trials before. He couldn't afford not to, not after the encounter he had narrowly survived. The other Toa had to know what had transpired so they could be more prepared than he had been. He'd at least had a general warning about it and it still was not enough to protect him; how many of his team mates could survive without any warning at all? Images of his friends being cut down and slain flashed through his mind one after another, each merciless death more graphic than the last, until Kopaka couldn't bear it any longer and stumbled to his hands and knees, utterly nauseated by the machinations of his wandering and troubled mind. Again and again they danced before his mind's eye, each yell or cry echoing loud within the ringing of his ears. Death after death, yell after yell, the images grew stronger with every second that his wandering thoughts claimed.

Kopaka forced his awareness back to the present, tearing his focus away from horrific imagery and once again getting to his feet. "I have to get back to Ko-Koro..." He murmured faintly, each tumultuous step more agonizing than the last. "I have to warn the others before it's too late..."

But where was the way back? Had he seen that rock formation already? He couldn't even find his old footprints, and even if he could, would he even know if they were the right set? What if a muaka or some other vicious rahi found him first? Did he have the strength left to fight one off? His mind was already reeling as it was, and now his countless 'what if's were adding to the turmoil and confusion he was so lost in. So buried by his clouded haze of wonderment and pain, Kopaka didn't even realize he was falling over until he was already on the snow-laden ground, and by the time he did, he'd lost all that remained of his physical strength. But even as he closed his eyes to embrace the inevitable, he thought he heard something. Was that crunching snow? Had someone come to find him?

Almost distantly, Kopaka heard a low and semi-muffled voice, though he couldn't identify the words or who said them in spite of sounding familiar. The Ice Toa decided that it must be his attacker, back to finish the job now that killing him could be deemed an act of mercy. Yes, that had to be it. The Shadow Toa had returned to put an end to his presently miserable existence. "Kill me fast... This has lasted longer than I can bear..."

"Kopaka?" The voice asked now sounding closer and a lot clearer. "... Are you nuts?"

The twenty-eight year old slowly blinked his eyes open as he felt himself getting rolled onto his back, his vision only just clear enough to make out messy brown hair and bright orange eyes. There was only one person crazy enough to brave a snow storm who looked like that.

"... Pohatu?"

"Well what does it look like? A mahi goat?"

"Sometimes I debate that..."

"Rude!"

Kopaka twitched a weak smile. Someone had come to find him. He would be alright. And most importantly, he could warn the rest of his team. "Please tell me you know how to get back to town."

"What's this?" Pohatu asked, carefully lifting Kopaka off the ground and up into his arms. "The mighty Kopaka Nuva was lost as well as begging for death?"

"Just shut up and take me back..."

The Toa of Stone shook his head grimly. "Can't do that, not yet anyway. The storm's too thick. But there is a cave nearby with some supplies in it, so we'll wait it out there. With you in bad shape, hurrying isn't an option."

Kopaka groaned in frustration. The last time he'd been delayed by weather was during the less-than-pleasant battle against the Bohrok Kal, when the Toa had been utterly stripped of their elemental powers. It wasn't a time he enjoyed remembering. But it also drew something else to the Ice Toa's attention. "The scouting cave? Who told you how to find it?" As far as he'd known, only he, the Ko-Matoran, and Turaga Nuju, knew about that cave.

"Oh, some fellow named Navak mentioned it to me." Pohatu explained as he carried his taller Brother along. "Said the stars told him I'd need it, and now it seems we do."

Navak. He was an unusual matoran by every standard Kopaka could think of. Having been discovered on Metru Nui after the Visorak crisis, the Ko-Matoran had apparently been able to avoid Visorak and Vahki alike, though a few of the now-Turaga as well as a majority of the island were certain it had somehow addled his head. But, for the most part, Navak was completely sound of mind, by what Kopaka could see, and aside from his unexplained fear of bird noises he was incredibly helpful to everyone he met, even if they didn't really need or want his help in the first place.

"Well... Thank goodness he was there to help out. How did you even find me?"

Pohatu grinned, albeit mildly. "I'm just that good."

By the time they reached the scouting cave, Kopaka had drifted into and out of consciousness several times, and only really started to wake up when Pohatu got a campfire going. Propped against a nearby rock and looking more than a little perturbed, the Toa of Ice could only frown and watch as Pohatu poked around for medical supplies. "Remind me when you learned basic levels of first aid?"

Pohatu chuckled at the question. "Learned it along with Gali shortly after we got here. Nokama was adamant that at least two of us knew how to keep everyone alive." He soon located what he was looking for and walked over, an unnervingly mischievous gleam in his vibrant eyes. "Speaking of Gali, when are you two going to make it official? I know you two have been low-key pseudo-dating for ages now."

Kopaka blinked slowly at this, not entirely sure if he had actually heard that right. "Excuse me?"

The Stone Toa grinned. "You and Gali. When are you going to just ask her out already?"

There was no denying or missing Kopaka's exasperated groan, leaning his head back and closing his eyes while his brother got to work. "So you did actually ask that."

"Well of course I did; I've been in a state of constant suspense for almost a decade. You aren't gonna keep me waiting any longer, are you?"

The Toa of Ice scowled, his cheeks flushing as he snapped hotly. "I will keep you in suspense as long as I like, Pohatu, and why you picked now of all times to harass me about my personal life I will never understand."

Pohatu's grin didn't falter. "Why not? This is one of those incredibly rare times where I know nobody else is going to show up and interrupt. No better time than now to talk about little secrets."

"... I hate your undeniable logic so much right now."

"So will you tell me?"

"No."

There were many things Kopaka would have been fine and willing to discuss, but his relationship with Gali was not one of them. Sure, his brother wasn't wrong about how long it was taking for Kopaka to officially ask Gali out, but it wasn't his fault that bad things always happened whenever he finally felt safe enough to ask. He had even been intending on asking her sometime after the hype over the tournament had subsided. But, just like clockwork, something bad had once again derailed his plan. He was even starting to wonder if this was a sign that having a proper relationship wasn't allowed.

"She won't wait forever, you know."

That snapped Kopaka back from his thoughts. Frowning as he sat upright and opened his eyes, the Toa of Ice asked crossly. "What are you talking about?"

Pohatu shrugged. "You can't expect her to not eventually lose interest, Kopaka. She's been waiting a long time, and you still haven't made a move. Can't really say that's a good strategy for keeping her attention from straying to other, more active possibilities."

Kopaka's scowl quickly turned into a full-blown glower. "Are you threatening me, Pohatu?"

The brunette shook his head. "Goodness no. But she and Tahu did have a moment of reconciliation, and only Mata Nui knows where that might take them."

"You're lying."

"Am I? You've known me for twenty years and I have been nothing but honest with you about stuff like this. Will you really start to distrust me now?"

Again, Pohatu's words rang as true as could be. The Stone Toa had never given him false information before, not for anything this important. But would Tahu really be able to take Gali's affection from him? They had been at severe odds for a fair while now; surely they couldn't have gotten over it that swiftly, especially at the final match of the kolhii tournament. They were too competitive for that to work, weren't they? "Are you certain they reconciled, Pohatu?"

The shorter Toa nodded, though his gaze remained focused on bandaging Kopaka's wounds. "I was right there watching and listening as it happened. Tahu and Gali are getting along, and Tahu is starting to wonder whether or not she has her eye on someone. I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually plucked up the courage to ask her himself."

He focused on finishing up before speaking again. "Sure, I'm going generally on guess work, but what I saw was pretty solid evidence in my books. You've probably got a bit of time still, but I wouldn't wait too much longer if I were you."

Kopaka's angered expression had long since subsided by now, replaced instead by grim contemplation. "Then it's settled." He said after a moment's pause. "I will bring it up with Gali the next appropriate chance I get. I will not lose her to Tahu. Not in a million years."

"That's the spirit!" Pohatu encouraged cheerfully. "Don't lose her to anyone, no matter what. But for now, you need to sleep. You'll never recover if you don't rest, and the night will be long."

The Toa of Ice wanted to argue, but he could not deny that he still felt exhausted. Endeavoring to secure Gali's love could wait just a little longer. Nodding slightly to Pohatu in acknowledgement of his words, Kopaka rested his head back and closed his eyes...

Just in time to miss the impish and blatantly victorious grin that adorned Pohatu's face.


	12. Chapter 12: Undesired Understanding

Waiting out the storm took longer than Pohatu had expected it to, though he wasn't entirely bothered by it. If anything, it gave him an easier time making Kopaka sit and rest, something he'd always felt his Brother needed to do more of. While Kopaka grudgingly sat and slept, Pohatu idly paced the cave, occasionally stopping to look out through the cave mouth or to investigate the supplies. A few times he even paused to make sure the campfire remained burning; Kopaka may not have needed it but the Stone Toa couldn't go without it. He was used to hot, arid climates, and to seeing nothing but sand and rock for miles around. Being up near the top of an ice-laden mountain was far from being anywhere in his element. "The sooner we can get down from here, the better..."

He didn't like complaining. Not personally, at least. Pohatu had always been fairly laid back and content, and he liked to keep it that way. Even when he and his teammates had lost their elemental power, he hadn't raised much of a fuss. But every now and then, the Stone Toa made an exception.

"Brr... It's biting right through this coat..."

Exceptions such as right now.

"Brother, how do you intend on letting me sleep when you continue to grumble?"

Pohatu turned from staring into the fire so he could regard his best friend. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

"I was." Kopaka replied calmly. "But the weather shifted; the storm will be ending soon."

"Praise Mata Nui!"

"And then you get to carry me back to Ko-Koro."

"... Drat. Remind me why you decided to pick a fight with something nasty?"

The Toa of Ice frowned at him. "He picked the fight with me; I wouldn't have deliberately gone chasing the psychopath that murdered my family."

Pohatu blinked. How was that even possible? Hadn't that person died? "Are you sure that is who you saw?"

"I didn't get a good look at him." The pale one admitted. "But I would recognize that voice anywhere."

The Toa of Stone had never been given reason to doubt his Brother's judgement before, but this was making him wonder if he should. "Kopaka... Mihkoro died thirteen years ago, and he was sane when it happened. It couldn't have been him."

Kopaka frowned. "And did anyone look for a body? Did anyone find any proof?"

"Well, no, but if he lived he would have come back, wouldn't he?"

"It wouldn't be the first time he disappeared on us, Pohatu, and you know that the Makuta would probably jump at the chance to have a powerhouse like that at his disposal." The Ice Toa shook his head grimly. "And Mihkoro was never really purged of the darkness; he used it all the time."

The doubt Pohatu had was caving under the dread that was seeping in. Kopaka's defense made too much sense to ignore or pass off as lingering delirium from his wounds. "But... what are we going to tell the others? The Turaga? Jaller?"

"We don't tell anyone." Kopaka replied. "Not until we can back it up with more than my theory and the logic of the past. If Mihkoro reveals himself, it's going to initially be his play to make."

Pohatu didn't like the sounds of that. "Uh, Kopaka? Remember the last time we kept a secret from the Turaga? Nuju got really upset."

"Then let him."

"... Are you sure you didn't hit your head too hard on something?"

"Stop arguing and let's leave; the storm is gone and you're still shivering. Leave Nuju to me and just focus on getting back to Ko-Koro. The sooner you're off this mountain, the better for all of us."

True to his word, the storm had faded during their conversation and with it gone it was much easier to return to the ice-layered village of the Ko-Matoran. Pohatu didn't linger long afterward either; no sooner had he gotten Kopaka to Nuju's house than he made a hasty retreat and almost-mad-dash for the nearest Onu-Koro Highway tunnel he could find. Even as he drew closer to it, he could hear Nuju's angry bird calls as he no doubt berated Kopaka for trying to withhold information from him.

"I tried warning him... Maybe I should move faster so he doesn't try catching ME next."

The Toa of Stone quickened his pace. He had enough of a hassle with Turaga Onewa as it was without adding Nuju and his bird sounds to the mix. Besides, the sooner he could get rid of his winter coat - he had a knack for leaving it all over the place and inevitably racing around the island to find it again - the happier he'd be.

"Wonder if Onua has any good stories to share..."

It wasn't long before Pohatu had located the tunnel and plunged into the darkness of Onu-Wahi. The path was scarcely luminated, the only light being shed by small lightstone shards embedded in the walls and a few bioluminescent plants growing up from the cave floor. Even in the poor light, however, Pohatu was starting to relax; he could 'feel' the rock walls around him, taking comfort in more or less returning to his own element. Now if only he could shake off being so cold.

Lucky for him, Pohatu soon reached Onu-Koro and shed his coat in favor of warming up without it. Now the trick would be locating his Brother; as far as he knew, Onua could be in the mines helping out. "Well... drat."

"Pohatu!"

The solid impact of a hand on his shoulder was all it took for the Stone Toa to know that scouring the village would be unnecessary. "Onua!" He exclaimed, a boisterous grin spreading across his face as he turned to regard his Brother, all previously grim thoughts fading from his mind upon seeing the other Toa's own jovial expression.

Onua hadn't changed much over the last thirteen years; his hair was still in a ponytail -albeit a bit shorter than it used to be - , his hands were still wrapped, and he was still as vertically challenged as ever. But Pohatu was okay with this; of all the members of his team, Onua was the last one he wanted to see change. Time and time again, the Toa of Earth had been the strongest pillar of support, sometimes the only one, and it had always been enough to pull everyone back together, no matter what else was happening around them. And Pohatu had a feeling they would need that stability more than ever before now that new problems were stirring up.

"It's been a while since you came to visit, Brother." Onua pointed out with a small laugh. "The Turaga haven't been using you as a messenger again, have they?" That was when the Earth Toa noticed something that the brunette had missed, and his tone became concerned. "Why are there stains on your coat that look like bad news?"

Pohatu blinked before looking at the jacket in his hands and grimacing. He hadn't even thought about that. "Ehm... I found Kopaka bleeding out and somewhat delirious in Ko-Wahi."

Needless to say, Onua was surprised by these tidings and grimaced, not to mention pressed Pohatu for the details, which he more than willingly shared. By the end of it, the Earth Toa was considerably uncertain. "And you're sure it was Mihkoro?" He asked quietly as he ushered Pohatu towards his house. "You said Kopaka was at least somewhat incoherent; he could have made a mistake."

Pohatu shook his head. "I doubt he could make a mistake that big." He confessed grimly. "He said he recognized his attacker's voice, and I doubt he could ever forget Mihkoro's after what happened. Besides, he also said we never really found his body either, and if the Makuta really did catch him, he's had thirteen years to dominate his mind again. I don't like admitting it, but I fear that Kopaka may be right."

The silence between them lasted until they reached Onua's house and were inside with the door shut behind them. "So... he really is back then." Onua murmured. "I can hardly believe it."

Pohatu blinked at this. "You knew already?"

The older Toa nodded slowly. "Remember when that tunnel collapsed a few months ago? The one that nearly flooded part of the highway with magma?"

"I do." Pohatu replied. "You said it nearly killed you as well as several matoran." He grimaced. "You think Mihkoro did it?"

"I know he did it." Onua corrected. "I'd thought it was a trick of the light at first, but I saw him down there. He must have been watching to see if I would die, because shortly after I spotted him, he disappeared."

"He must have been at the kolhii match too then." The Stone Toa said. "Tahu, Gali, and I, all saw a shrouded figure in the stands for a second or two before disappearing. It makes me wonder if he was there for the match, or for something else..."

"Oh?" Onua inquired. "What else could have brought him to the arena? I'd have thought seeing his son compete would've been the biggest deal there.

"It probably was," Pohatu agreed. "but if it really is Mihkoro and the Makuta is controlling him, I doubt that's fully why he was there. Takua found something in the volcano before the match, and if I were the Makuta I would want it gone."

"And what exactly did Takua find?"

"A kanohi; the Avohkii. Which means the Seventh Toa has to be found." Pohatu grimaced further. "Onua, what if Mihkoro attacks Jaller and Takua while they search?"

Onua hesitated a moment before answering. "I don't think he can, actually."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I don't think Mihkoro would let himself hurt his own son, which means Takua and that kanohi are safe as long as Jaller is nearby."

It was a promising theory, Pohatu had to admit, but if his Brother was right it also opened up a lot more problems. Takua hadn't wanted to go with Jaller, and Jaller didn't want to go at all. Sure, they had left together...

But what would happen if they split up?


	13. Chapter 13: Secrets in the Dark

It had scarce been a day since they departed from Ta-Koro, and already Jaller could tell that this whole ordeal would put a fair bit of strain on his relationship with Takua. Sure, they weren't outright arguing yet, but the fact remained that his so-called best friend set him up and lied in an attempt to wheedle his way out of the adventure he unwittingly started. Why'd he even do it anyway? Takua was always the first to throw himself into anything not normal, especially when the Toa were involved. So what made this any different?

'Maybe there's more he hasn't said yet. It wouldn't be the first time he held back information.'

This was a thought that had frequently come to the forefront of Jaller's mind after finding out about what had transpired at Ga-Koro, and the more he htought about it the more questions he had.

"Het Takua, tell me more about that spooky guy you met in Ga-Koro."

The reply was about as graceful as a drunk Le-Matoran. "Huh?"

Jaller rolled his eyes. "The person who told you where to find the shiny crown. Tell me more about him."

The Chronicler shifted uncomfortably at the notion. "I'd rather try to forget about him, actually. Why does it even matter?"

Jaller frowned. "Because you've been trying to keep secrets from me and I'm tired of it. We're supposed to be friends, Takua. Brothers, even. So why aren't you letting me in like you used to?"

"Because it doesn't matter!" Takua exclaimed, exasperated and even more uncomfortable now. "It's not like keeping one thing to myself is a big deal!"

"My father died because of 'not big deals'!"

The words were out of his mouth before the guard even knew what he was saying, though by the time it had registered he simply didn't care. He was tired of being left in the dark. "Every time he got hurt or something was on his mind, he'd say it wasn't important and brush it off! His whole life was secrets and disregarding the help other people tried to give him, and now he's dead! Because he kept so many secrets that nobody knew how to help him! Don't you get it?! His lack of Unity got him killed, and now you're doing the exact same thing that he did!"

Takua stared at him in stunned silence, barely even registering the quiet and inquisitive chirp that came from Pewku as she slowed her pace. Sure, Jaller had gotten into arguments before, but he had never yelled at him, especially not with that much fire and anger. "J-Jaller, I-"

"You what, Takua?" The guard snapped crossly. "You're sorry? Well guess what; that's not good enough. Not this time. You've kept secrets, you've deliberately dodged questions, and outright shunted your responsibility onto me! If you think something as mundane as just saying 'I'm sorry' is enough to make up for that, you're dead wrong!"

"Well what am I supposed to say, Jaller?!" Takua snapped back. "Are you expecting me to just flop over and grovel? Is that what you want?!"

"I want the truth!" Jaller yelled. "All I ever wanted was the truth! I wanted it from my father, I wanted it from Vakama, and I want it from you! Is that too much to ask for?!"

"Yes it is!"

The ensuing silence was so tense that Pewku shivered and stopped walking entirely, whilst the two matoran sat glowering at each other on her back without a sound. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Takua spoke again, managing to bring his tone back into a state of general calm. "I want to tell you Jaller, I really honestly do. But I can't."

"Why not?" Jaller seethed, though he too was fighting to regain control of his temper.

"Because the person who started this whole mess said that anyone I told would be in severe danger, and of all the people on this island that I want to protect, the most important one on that list is you. I care about everyone else, but I'm not losing my own brother to my own mistakes, not if I can help it."

Again there was silence between them, though now it was much less heated. As much as Jaller was still annoyed, he couldn't really stay cross with his best friend, especially now that he at least knew why he was keeping secrets. "Takua..." He said after a little while, sighing and shaking his head. "You have got to be the most ridiculous and lovable idiot I have ever met."

Takua blinked at him. "So... you aren't mad at me anymore?"

"Oh I'm still upset." Jaller replied with a faint huff. "And I still want to know what's going on. But at least now I know it's not entirely your fault, and that helps a lot."

The Chronicler mustered up an awkward grin. "At least there's that. I'd call that a win."

Jaller couldn't help but laugh. "Only you could call that a win, Takua."

"Yeah, but I've made it with less."

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

While the two matoran shifted from anger into light-heartedly punching each other, they remained unaware of the fact that someone else was listening, watching in grim silence from the shadows and considering all he had heard. Their argument had put him on edge, his glowing red eyes studying every detail of their body language and his mind picking apart every syllable they'd uttered. That exchange had been a dangerous one, especially this early into their journey. He couldn't afford a split like that, not if he ever wanted to taste freedom again. A heavy sigh escaped him as he shifted through the shadows, stepping out further down the road and in the cover of a rocky overhang. It was only when he was here and sure that he was alone, that he let his own emotion express itself, roaring in anguished rage as he smashed his armored fist into the rock wall beside him and scorching the stone as black flames engulfed his arm. Too long had he been forced to crawl in darkness, spying on the people he loved and unwillingly plotting their ruin. Would this torment ever end? Would he ever be able to reunite with the small remnant of family that he had left? Would he ever be able to tell his son how proud of him he really was?

Jaller's angered words resounded in his mind, reminding him just how hurt he'd been by all the secret keeping. Anger burned stronger in Mihkoro's heart as fire spread over his frame, shrouding him in darkness and blackening the rocks around him. "How much more must I suffer, Makuta?!" He yelled to the ceiling. "How much more will it take before you release me?!"

The Shadow Toa didn't need an answer to know what the truth was; unless his master was defeated or he himself was slain, there would be no reprieve. He would never be free of the madness that manipulated him. As it was he had only just been able to stop himself from killing Kopaka on Mt. Ihu, and he had little doubt that such luck would be permitted to happen again. As it was, he didn't even know if Kopaka was actually still alive; for all he knew, the Toa of Ice had bled out and died to his injuries. Nobody had been there to save him if he couldn't make his way back; that had been the whole reason Mihkoro had drawn him out into the wilderness as far as he did. No, Kopaka would be dead by the time anyone found him.

'One down, five to go.' A little voice said in his mind.

"No!"

Mihkoro punched the wall again, his fire burning even hotter as he fought to control the whirling emotions that swam through his mind. "No more, Makuta! I've had enough!"

'Have you?' The little voice sneered. 'You were born for this. I MADE you for this. You can't fight what's second nature to you. You couldn't even save Kopaka; if anything you prolonged his suffering.'

"You killed him, not me!" The Shadow Toa yelled, straining to withhold his own tears. "You murdered him the same way you murdered Lhikan! Through manipulation and cowardice! You could never do your own dirty work, not then and not now!"

Stabbing pain wrenched a scream from him as Mihkoro felt his own flames turn against him, engulfing him in agony as he collapsed in a writhing heap on the ground. Once again he had overstepped his boundaries, invoking the wrath and punishment he so often suffered when he defied his master. The pain was unbearable, clawing at his very core as he tried and failed to banish the fire, his own armor threatening to melt under the incredible heat it was giving off. Desperate for release, half mad from the pain and his own emotions, Mihkoro made a frantic grab for his boot knife. He could end his suffering right here and now. He could end his torment and remove one of the Makua's game pieces in one fell swoop.

Where was his knife? He always had it with him! Where coul it have gone?

Through the haze in his mind, Mihkoro searched for answers, pleading for fate to be merciful. It didn't take long for him to discern what happened; in the midst of the chaos, Mihkoro had left his knife on Mt. Ihu, more than likely in Kopaka's frame or at the very least somewhere nearby. He wouldn't be getting that back any time soon. Crying out in anguish and pain, the Shadow Toa did the one thing he knew could grant him temporary relief.

He activated his mask. Almost instantly, the pain began to slowly ebb away, offering some minor reprieve from the tormeent. Slowly his thoughts became clearer, and as he fought to recover, Mihkoro went over everything again in his mind. The Avohkii was his only hope now, and thus far things were generally working out. If he could just find the willpower he'd had so many years ago, maybe he could live to see freedom again. If not for himself, then at least for his son and the rest of the island. He just had to find his inner strength again, had to rekindle the hope that had been extinguished. He needed more time.

By now the flames that'd attacked him were gone, and all the dark whispers in his mind had diminished. Mihkoro was alone once again, and it was a silence he aimed to take advantage of. With painstaking slowness he peeled off his armor and got to his feet, coughing out smoke as he stumbled out into the daylight. Even just being exposed to the light stung by now, having been so thoroughly steeped in shadows for so long, but it was more of a bittersweet comfort in its own way. Mihkoro had taken to exposing himself to the light now and then over time, knowing that every throb and ache signified the burning off of a small peasure of darkness, and while he knew this alone could not save him it was always enough to remind him of the hope he could have now that the Avohkii was found.

Now the main trick would be ensuring its rightful owner would actually put it on. Thus far he outright seemed afraid of touching it, let alone wearing it. But at least the journey had begun, and that would ahve to be enough for now. That would need to be adequate resource to give him the strength to keep going.

"Soon, Takua..." He murmured as he started walking down the road. "Soon you will learn the truth of who you are, and what you will be." A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"You can't run from Destiny forever."


	14. Chapter 14: Rising Storm

Everything in Ta-Koro was finally starting to settle down. Partiers too tired to continue in their revelry were finding their ways back home or to friends' houses for the night, and so far nobody had gotten themselves into any danger. Yes, it was a good end to a good day, and as Vakama walked in the emptying streets of his village with his old teammates, he couldn't help but feel a sense of peace. Sure, Takua and Jaller were out on the biggest and most important mission of their lives, but he knew they would be alright. Jaller could fight like his father - or at least just as fiercely - and Takua was quick-minded enough to make good calls on a snap decision.

"Those two are gonna get into trouble, Vakama. Mark my words, there's going to be a fight."

The older Turaga blinked and looked over just in time to see Onewa get smacked upside the head by Nokama. "Don't say such things!" She scolded crossly. "The boys are going to be fine!"

"Ow!" Onewa shot her a dirty look as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not wrong though! You saw how they acted about this whole mess. Jaller was slighted and Takua didn't want to go. Something is going to go wrong, I just know it."

Nokama rolled her eyes. "Every set of friends has setbacks. We did and we're all fine."

Vakama, however, wasn't as certain. "Onewa has a valid reason for his skepticism, Nokama. The disagreement over being the Herald wasn't like their usual tiffs. I feel that, while they will be stronger in the end, nothing is going to try their friendship quite like this. I doubt it will the camaraderie, but it will most certainly strain it."

"More like smash it apart." Onewa grumbled bitterly. "There was more passive aggression in that conversation than there was real aggression during the Vis-OW! Stop it!"

Nokama had outright punched him in the ribs that time, and for very good reason; while many years had passed since those dark times, each of the Turaga still bore the scars, physical as well as emotional and mental. In a couple cases, the mental scars still felt fresh, Vakama's more so than the rest. "Don't you ever say that again!" Nokama seethed. "You know full well how things were and how they are now. If you ever make a comparison like that again I swear I'll-!"

"Enough, both of you."

Vakama's voice was quiet and grim, his hands trembling a little as the beginning of a headache stirred around the base of his skull. "Let's not fight about this, not any more than we already have. What matters is that Takua and Jaller have started their mission. Let's focus on that for now instead of drawing up past battles." As the pair murmured quiet apologies, Vakama offered them a weary smile before gently rubbing his temples, his headache growing surprisingly stronger in very little time. He hadn't felt something like this in several years. Not since...

"Oh no."

Nokama's expression swiftly changed from apologetic to concerned, whilst Onewa merely frowned a bit. "What?" The younger of them asked. "Forgot your stove on or something?"

Vakama barely even registered the statement, nor was he all that aware of the fact that he was collapsing. His head pounded as though the hordika from thirteen years ago had reawakened and wanted to fight its way out, his vision blurring and fading into darkness. He could barely even hear Nokama and Onewa as they reacted to his fall. And then?

The first vision in over a decade began.

^v^v^v^v^v^

 _Darkness. Nothing but pure darkness surrounded him, thick as smoke and just as choking. Every breath Vakama drew felt like a battle, every inhale a struggle he scarce had the strength to win. Somewhere ahead he could see a glowing light, as though some brave soul were daring enough to lift a torch and challenge the encroaching gloom that had already smothered everything else. Desperate to escape the strangle-hold that the darkness was imposing, Vakama stumbled closer to the light, a hand holding his chest while the other clutched at his own throat in a subconscious attempt to aid his breathing. Surely if he could just reach the light, he could breathe easier._

 _It felt like an unending struggle, though after what seemed like an age the turaga reached the beacon of hope he had sought, and much to his surprise he discovered that the light was not a torch at all; it was a child, eerily familiar and yet unrecognizable. "What is this place?" Vakama gasped out, coughing as his breathing grew far less laborious._

 _The boy looked curiously at him for a moment, as though he wasn't sure how to answer, but eventually he replied. "This is the island of Mata Nui. The suns are probably gone by now; they haven't come back for a long time."_

 _Needless to say, this was not the answer Vakama had expected. "How?" He asked shakily, partially from shock and partially from his still recovering lungs. "What happened?"_

 _The boy shook his head and turned, the shadows around them lifting to reveal that they were standing at the top of Mangai Volcano. All around them smoke was rising from the landscape, Le-Wahi destroyed and a vast crater betraying the destruction of Onu-Koro. He didn't even have to look for Vakama to know the other villages had met a similar fate. "A terrible darkness is rising, Vakama." The boy said grimly. "Hope is going to shatter if something isn't done." He looked up at the turaga almost pleadingly. "If a strong leader doesn't rise to the challenge of the coming days, others will lose their hope the same way I lost mine. But most importantly, Takua absolutely cannot fail. If he fails, this is what will happen; there will be no chance of alternative paths. No saving grace, no second chance."_

 _"How can I ensure it then?" Vakama inquired, and while he generally sounded calm he could not hide his rising fear. "Surely there is something that can be done."_

 _"You tell me, Vakama." The boy replied with a shrug and another grimace. "You're the one who was a proper Toa. You were always more of a hero than I was."_

 _That statement caught Vakama off guard, leaving him in confused silence as his vision began to fade away. The boy, on the other hand, turned to look at the destroyed island again. "A storm is coming; Ta-Koro needs to be ready for it. Keep 'em safe for me, okay?"_

^v^v^v^v^v^

It was only as Vakama returned to reality that he truly figured out who the boy had been. The eyes had been his own, the face and frame identical to his childhood self. But it was the words he said that made the picture complete. The boy he had seen wasn't himself at all;

It was his brother.

Somehow, Vakama had caught a glimpse into what Mihkoro likely would have felt if he were still alive, words given life through an echo of time that Vakama never got to see. And now he had to act on what he'd seen. "An attack..."

"What?" Nokama asked, her face pale as she presently knelt over the Fire Turaga's prone frame. "Vakama what happened to you?"

"A vision." He replied grimly, shaking his head as he slowly, shakily, got back to his feet. "Ta-Koro is in danger; if we don't prepare fast we will be destroyed." He looked at Onewa. "Find Tahu; we're going to need him." He turned to Nokama next. "See if you can find Gali, this won't be as simple as a one-Toa task. Not by a long shot."

Onewa frowned even as he started moving. "And what are you going to do, oh fearless one?"

Vakama ignored the snappy remark, even as he made for the wall. "Sound the alarm."

It wasn't long before the matoran were gathered, every member of the Ta-Koro Guard armed and ready at their posts while the turaga made sure everyone else was ready to fight or run at a moment's notice. Even Gali and Tahu were present and armed, neither saying a word as they stood side-by-side on the wall, watching as an unnaturally dark cloud spread hastily across the sky towards them, blanketing the island in an otherworldly darkness.

"Reminds me of the Coliseum all those years ago." Tahu remarked grimly, the grip on his blades tightening.

"A little." Gali agreed quietly. "But we were the ones attacking back then; now the tables have turned against us."

"Bah, you worry too much."

"And you too little. Perhaps this is more similar than I thought."

Tahu offered her a small laugh in return before he focused in the encroaching darkness. By now it was almost overshadowing Ta-Koro, and as it did so three strange beings could be seen drawing near at an alarming rate. Lizard-like and seemingly built entirely of metal, mere seconds passed before the unusual flying creatures had not only reached the walls, but had - despite the spears and elemental blasts thrown at them - soared over them completely, dropping down into the village below. A blast like an explosive going off shattered a nearby building as the beings hit the ground, throwing the assembled matoran into utter chaos and scattering them. In a span of a few seconds, an entire plan had been decimated, all because of one small oversight. "Gali, try to head them off!" Tahu yelled over the noise. "We can still salvage this if we can bring those things down!" Even as he gave his order, the Toa of Fire had jumped down from the wall and was in pursuit, his weapons already glowing with heat and trailing wisps of smoke. He didn't wait to listen for an answer either; he trusted that Gali would either listen to him or have a better idea that would work instead. Right now his priority was putting a stop to the siege by any means necessary.

It didn't take long before Tahu was close enough to attack, lashing out on the green-toned creature whilst the other two - a blue one and a brown one - stomped off further into the village, each going different directions. "Oh come on! Can't they just stay grouped up and make life easier?!"

The answer was a clear and resounding 'no', apparently, and it was only a matter of time before the Fire Toa realized he may have bitten off a little more than he could chew. The creature was already proving itself to be physically stronger than he was, and even on the few chances to counter that he was given, he was barely able to land a strike that seemed to leave any damage. Sparks flew again and again as Tahu's blades clashed with the creature's staff, the Toa's anger only burning hotter as the fight progressed. Surely he should have been able to bring this monstrosity down by now!

That was when he heard it. A yell of alarm and fear, resounding from a building nearby that was on the verge of collapse. Had that been who he thought it was? Without even thinking, Tahu reacted on instinct alone and looked away from his opponent to call out. "Hahli?!"

Wham!

The next thing he knew, Tahu was being knocked flat, his head throbbing and eyes blurred with pain. Something sticky and wet was trickling down his face, the scent of blood and something rancid assailing his nostrils as he struggled to roll over and get up. He could hear something moving closer, more than likely the creature closing in to finish the job while he was unarmed and disoriented.

"Hey ugly!"

The sound of surging water drowned out everything else as the being was hit with the force of a super-pressured geyser, and a few moments later Gali's voice could be made out, her hands grasping at Tahu's arms as she tried to help him stand. "Tahu are you alright?!"

"Of course not!" He snapped back at her, brushing her hands aside as he got to his feet. "My village is under attack, and you're busy fussing over me getting a couple scratches!"

"Everyone's evacuated already." Gali said crossly, leaving Tahu where he was so she could free Hahli. "Ta-Koro is lost; we have to get out of here before more of it sinks into the lava. They're blasting down the supports as we speak."

Tahu's anger only boiled hotter at that. His village, destroyed? They had been able to protect it for years, against hordes of bohrok and crazed rahi, and now this? Destruction at the hands of three lizard monsters that barely seemed like they should've been as powerful as they were? It wasn't right! He should have been able to stop this from happening! He, Tahu Nuva, was too good for failure!

"Tahu come on!"

Gali's yell drew him back from his seething, falling in behind her as she led Hahli to the bridge and freedom. However, even as they made a break for more solid ground, Tahu could tell something was wrong. Why could he only see two Turaga? Half-way across the bridge, he caught a glimpse of Nokama's face and understood; Vakama hadn't escaped. Without a word he turned back towards the sinking village and ran for the gates. He already lost his village, but he was not going to lose anyone who dwelt in it.

Even if it killed him.


	15. Chapter 15: Failure

This certainly wasn't how Vakama liked to spend his evenings. He'd much rather have been able to sit back and relax in the company of Onewa and Nokama than running around and being chased by rahkshi. Especially now that he wasn't nearly as well equipped as he used to be. As it was, the thirty-nine year old had barely managed to avoid one brush with death, and that was only because his weakened mask power held out long enough for his present stalker to get bored and look somewhere else. The problem was, however, that Vakama wasn't sure it would work a second time; the creature had taken to spending more time searching each place it looked into, longer than his mask could hold out for. If he wound up having to rely on it again, he was as good as dead.

The sound of a breaking jar in the building he was hiding behind made him jump, cringing as he registered just how close the rahkshi was to finding him. Just when Vakama felt certain he would have a moment's rest to figure out a plan, he just had to wind up unable to come up with anything aside from on-the-fly attempts at life preservation. The ground trembled as the turaga fled his hiding place and ran for the next building. Surely the rahkshi wouldn't search the same place twice. It was a gamble he would have to make, especially with it that close behind him. Somewhere outside he heard the ground crack and split open, a surefire sign that Ta-Koro's days were over. But at least there was no screaming. Surely that meant everyone else had been able to evacuate. He sincerely hoped it did, at least. The thought of anyone dying in the attack was a crushing one, and thinking about it now was not something that Vakama could afford to be distracted by, not when his own mortality was on the line.

Something moved in the street outside, further drawing Vakama to focus on the present rather than the what-ifs. He pressed himself against the wall, ducking down near the doorway and watching for the rahkshi with baited breath. If it tried looking in again it would have a new thing coming. Staff held at the ready, Vakama was prepared to whack the first thing that dared to try and find him.

'I've yet to encounter someone who could withstand a knock to the head without repercussions.'

A shadow passed by the doorway, hesitating a moment before continuing by. Vakama dared to let a breath escape. So far, so good. Now he just had to figure out how he would get out of Ta-Koro before it sunk. That in and of itself would prove tricky, even without three rahkshi skulking about and hunting for stragglers.

The shadow passed by again, and once more it hesitated as though its owner was contemplating going inside. Vakama held his breath, his grip on his staff tightening a bit. Part of him was afraid it would enter, part of him dared it to try. He just had to hope he could hit it hard enough to let him make a break for it. A low hiss came from outside, the shadow moving and betraying the oncoming danger. Vakama willed himself to disappear, his eyes shimmering as his mask activated and caused him to vanish. Mere moments afterward, a large, lizard-like head moved into view, the being holding its staff ahead of itself, the tip of which glowing an orange-gold hue. However, the sheer size of the rahkshi wasn't something that Vakama had originally considered, and now he had an even bigger problem.; even if he could somehow fully bring the creature down, its frame would be blocking the door, preventing a ready escape through that route. To make matters worse, the building had no other doorways or windows.

Vakama was trapped, and only a miracle could save him.

For a brief moment, the turaga felt a sense of hopelessness. He was going to die here.

The words of his brother returned from his vision then, reminding him that the matoran would lose all hope if nobody could step up to lead them. If he died, who could rise to that challenge?

Vakama's grip on his staff grew a bit tighter as he raised it over his head, his presently invisible face taking on a determined and fiery expression. No, he wasn't going to lose himself in doubts now. He was going to get out of this, and by Mata Nui his present hunter would never shake the headache it was about to receive.

CRACK!

With a chorus of loud and pained hissing, the rahkshi was forced out of the doorway, the now separate halves of Vakama's staff falling to the floor as the invisible turaga dropped it and ran, pushing past the briefly stunned creature and bolting down the cracked street as his frame flickered back into view. A guttural, gurgling screech pierced the air as the creature recovered and gave chase, a glowing ball rocketing past Vakama and blowing up a building to his left. Staggering from the explosion and putting his arms up to try and protect his head, the thirty-nine year old scarce gave himself a chance to slow down; if the rahkshi could do that to a building, who knew what it could do if it hit him. "Just like old times..." Vakama muttered to himself, his mind returning to the fateful encounter with his twin brother in the Metru Nui Archives so long ago. They had been running from the Makuta back then, and now here Vakama was, fleeing from one of the Makuta's followers. Now all he was missing was a gaping hole to fall down.

That was when the ground shoo more violently than any of the previous tremors, a vast fissure tearing through the street up ahead and cutting off his escape. Vakama barely managed to stop in time, his feet mere inches from the edge as he stared wide-eyed into the chasm and the violently roiling lava below. On the far side and in the distance, the gate of Ta-Koro could be just barely made out through the dust and smoke, mocking him with the freedom he almost had. A figure could be seen running through it towards him, but the turaga knew he would never make it in time. It was over. Tahu was about to watch the very person who helped him become the Toa he was now die at the hand of the Makuta.

The guttural hissing behind him told Vakama that the rahkshi had caught up, and as he turned to face it he knew he was about to look his own death in the eye. "If you came to kill me," he said as boldly as he could. "then do it. But know this; your master will not succeed. It is in his nature to fail moments from his greatest triumphs."

The rahkshi merely screeched at him as it raised its staff, ready to destroy the meddlesome and defiant turaga once and for all...

Only to screech in pain as a plume of black fire surged from the darkness, and a new contender stepped from a nearby alley. He was tall and dark, covered in painful looking burns and holding himself like he had nothing left to lose. A large glaive was held ready in case the rahkshi tried to strike again, his eyes burning with an anger that could not be quenched.

"M-Mihkoro...?"

The Shadow Toa only spared Vakama a small glance before his gaze turned back to the hissing and sputtering rahkshi as it drew itself back up to its full height and focused on them again. "I'll buy you some time to get out of here." He said grimly as he walked closer, putting himself between his brother and the now highly irritated rahkshi. "Don't let Tahu get himself killed." Without offering an opportunity for reply, the Shadow Toa lunged forward and initiated a full blown fight, forcing Vakama to focus on his own escape instead of mulling over any details.

"Turaga!"

Tahu had reached the edge of the precipice now, one sword driven into the ground and being used as an anchor while the Toa's other hand was outstretched. "Jump!"

It was more of a reaction than an actual thought that had Vakama taking a few steps back before taking a run for the edge and launching from it. It was a very narrow chance that Tahu could even catch him, and now that he was actually in the air the turaga was beginning to question every choice he had just made.

Tahu's hand missed, and soon Vakama found himself barely clinging to the jagged edges of the fissure a few feet down, nothing but hot and fiery death waiting below. "Tahu!" He yelled as his fingers began to slip. "I can't hold on much longer!"

"I'm coming!"

Moments later, the Fire Toa was dropping past him, grabbing Vakama on the way down and landing squarely on his combined magma blades. "Hold on tight, this could get dangerous!"

"When we're safe, remind me to evaluate your concept of danger." Vakama said shakily, holding onto his rescuer as they hurtled off across the lava, propelled forward by waves created by the crumbling village. "Because a normal person would have deemed this dangerous the moment those rahkshi arrived."

"Rahkshi?" Tahu asked. "Is that what those things are called?"

"Yes, and I see you found the business end of one's staff."

"Oh not you too..."

Vakama frowned at that answer. "It's a lot more serious than just getting whacked in the head, Tahu." He scolded. "You don't know what that thing even did when it struck. One thing I've learned is to never underestimate the servants of the Makuta, especially the rahkshi."

"Am I the only one who who sees the real problem here?!" Tahu snapped. "Ta-Koro is gone! I had one job and I failed it!"

"Nonsense." Vakama replied hotly. "Ta-Koro was a place, not our people. The matorna are safe and that is what matters."

Tahu glared at him as they reached the bank and clambered up onto the edge. "Safe and homeless! They have nothing Vakama! What are they going to do now that they have nothing left?!"

"Survive." Vakama responded sharply. "Just as we have done since we arrived on this island. Don't get hung up on losing a dwelling place; if that was what mattered, the other turaga and I would have failed years ago."

"You did fail!" Tahu yelled. "If you had done your job properly we wouldn't be here!"

That was a wrong answer.

Vakama reacted without warning, grabbing the collar of Tahu's shirt with one hand and his hair with the other, forcibly pulling the Toa closer and glaring at him with all the fury of an erupting volcano. "Now you've gone too far." He seethed, his eyes burning with rage. "We are alive because of the sacrifices my team had to make, and if you think you could have done it better you're dead wrong." His grip tightened as Tahu tried to pull free, shaking him back into submission as he hissed. "I might not have my powers but I don't need them to put you back in your place." Letting go, he pushed the Toa away like some sort of diseased abomination before heading towards the rest of the escapees. "The darkness in your heart is taking over you, Tahu; if you can't stop it you're as good as dead."

"Like your brother?" Tahu shouted after him, clutching at his own, pain-wracked head."

"No. My brother was never this stupid."


	16. Chapter 16: Spookystrange Darksecrets

Lewa grimaced as he rubbed the back of his head, feeling the goose egg of a bruise that Matau's staff had left behind the previous day. All things considered, the issue of letting Mekoki keep the bird had gone fairly smoothly. Matau only hit him twice – it would have been once had he not said something stupid about catching a few more pokawi – and if he had considered dealing further damage it had been handily stopped by the timely arrival of Hlahlu, who had proceeded to coo and giggle about the 'featherball' in delight.

Needless to say, Mekoki got to keep the bird.

Now, however, Lewa was starting to wonder why he hadn't heard anything about the kolhii match. A couple of his friends had gone to see it and promised to give him a play-by-play recount the instant they reached a designated meeting point in Le-Wahi. But even with the Toa watching for them, even after outright sitting down with Tamaru and figuring out exactly how long it would take for them to return, there was no sign of them yet. Had Lewa done the math wrong? Granted, he very well could have going by how easily distracted he was, but Tamaru typically had a better head for numbers even with distractions, so surely they'd figured it out properly.

He sighed and shook his head purely out of boredom. They were taking far too long with this. Maybe he would simply have to go retrieve them. He could fly pretty quickly with his mask power, after all; he'd be at Ta-Koro in no time.

Yet some pesky part of him was determined to stay put, as though his gut was telling him that leaving now would be unwise. And after years of experience, Lewa knew better than to ignore gut instinct. The whole reason he had landed himself in so much trouble before was not listening to such things. That, and possibly not paying attention, but he wasn't too worried about that aspect just yet. As of the present moment, he would stay right where he was and watch. Besides, Onua was always saying it was better to observe than react if nothing solid was around to work with, and he seldom found himself in trouble, right?

It wasn't entirely clear how long Lewa stayed there, idly debating with himself over what to do, but the longer he sat the more his mind wandered. It drifted from his conundrum to wondering where his teammates were, and from there to the villages they protected. Everything and everyone had been fine last time he'd flown around to visit them, but the longer he thought the more the overall peace of the island began to feel less relaxing and more like the calm before a particularly ugly storm.

No, he was just being silly. Everything was fine; he was merely jumping at shadows.

Shadows that had glowing eyes and were staring at him.

"UWAAAHGH!"

Toppling from his perch with all the elegance of an inebriated gukko, Lewa flailed clumsily for several moments before finally remembering that he did, in fact, have a mask power he could catch himself with. Still, he did wind up lightly hitting the ground, where he proceeded to lay for several seconds, staring wide-eyed towards his freshly vacated spot in the trees. Had he really just seen that? He hoped not; glowing red eyes in the shadows were never a good thing. Ever.

The Air Toa shuddered as he picked himself up and continued to stare skyward, as though half expecting the spooky spectator to become more than a phantom and drop down after him. Luckily, no such thing happened and he eventually lowered his gaze to his new surroundings, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

"Well… that was creepystrange…"

A distant, bellowing roar made Lewa jump, then groan faintly as he set off towards the noise. After all, even a typically reasonable sound to hear in the jungle could be a threat when there were creepy eyes watching from sneaky places. For all he knew it could be as mundane as two rahi playing, or as dangerous as a horrific beast intent on devouring an innocent and unsuspecting bystander.

Well, maybe not unsuspecting anymore after hearing that guttural racket.

"I saw Toa Tahu do this once!"

"Jaller don't-!"

Another roar from the beast echoed forth, this time accompanied by a war cry from who could only be presumed to be Vakama's nephew, punctuated the air with the sort of reason to worry that Lewa had been hoping to avoid. Pushing himself to move faster, the Toa of Air swiftly found himself beholding a scene that, had he not just been badly startled, probably would have made him laugh.

There before him was the largest ash bear in all of Le-Wahi, frantically and angrily trying to throw Jaller off her back whilst the Ta-Matoran held on for dear life. Lewa was quite familiar with this particular beast; she was not only named – he had called her Graalok a couple years back and the name just stuck - , but she was also the closest thing to a pet he'd ever had. Sure, his first few encounters with her had been a bit disgruntled, but that was behind them now and no longer a major worry to him. No, the real worry that Lewa had now was whether or not Jaller would be inclined to bring out the large knife he always carried with him. It had been a habit that Mihkoro had more or less encouraged through his own personal practice during the Visorak Crisis, and now Jaller made every intention of carrying on the trend.

The bear would back down if Lewa moved to intervene; Jaller might not be as predictable if the situation got out of hand.

Lewa watched for a few moments longer before deciding he should probably stop the pair from hurting each other, lifting a hand and – with a strong puff of wind – knocking Jaller from his perch as he stepped out into view. "Easy there, motherbear." The Toa practically crooned as he caught the attention of all who were present. "There is no need for any harmdoing."

He couldn't help but grin when he noted the surprise on Jaller's face, as well as the fact that Takua was peering out of a nearby bush with his pet, Pewku. However, he could deal with them after Graalok was safely on her way. Gently he stroked her back, lightly massaging her cheeks and muzzle as the bear turned her head to look at him properly. "Be on your way now." Lewa soothed, smiling brightly as the ash bear growled some form of contented noise in his direction. "These three meant no wrong here. Go on."

He smiled even more as Graalok trundled away, and burst into laughter when he heard Takua sputter out. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Maybe someday." He answered as he looked back at the pair of Ta-Matoran, as well as the ussal that was with them whilst she and Takua clambered out of their hiding place. "But you should quicklearn how not to make her angrymad first." He flashed another boyish grin before focusing on Jaller and offering him a hand up. "Now, where does a firespitter learn to bearfight like that, I wonder?"

The young guard gave a dazed groan of sorts as he got to his feet. "Here, just now… Not the smartest move, I'll be honest. But why did you let that crazy thing leave? It's dangerous!"

Lewa laughed again at the answer he received. "Her? Dangerous? Notnever! Graalok was just protecting her home, much as you do yours. It's not every day that crazy firespitters wayfind her and get into angerfights." His smile turned to confusion. "But what brings you two out here? You were supposed to be in the kolhii tournament; shouldn't you be partygoing?"

"We should." Jaller replied with a small frown. "But Takua found some fancy crown and now we're looking for the Seventh Toa."

"Jaller's the Herald." Takua put in hastily. "I'm just here to chronicle the story."

It wasn't hard to see that this tidbit caused Jaller some annoyance, and Lewa caught on quite readily. Clearly there was a story there, but for now it would have to wait; there was something more noteworthy to him than a seemingly small squabble. "Seventh ToaHero? Huh… I wonder if Matau and Hlahlu-Friend know about this." He beamed excitedly. "Let's go find out! Besides, I made a gamblebet with Matau on the match and he'll want to know if he lost again." He turned and set off at once. "Come, firespitters! We leave for Le-Koro! We can partygo and settlesort this ToaHero business all at once!"

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

"Nooooo!"

Lewa grinned as Turaga Matau dramatically flopped back in his chair, a theatrical display almost good enough to wave the owed widgets.

Almost.

"I was surecertain I had the right cleverguess that time!" The turaga's cherry red eyes peered suspiciously at Lewa. "You sneakcheated! You had to have!"

Jaller just stared at Matau in disbelief as Lewa gave a shrug. "How could I sneakcheat on a gamblebet I wasn't even at the match for? They didn't know we were moneybetting."

The turaga spluttered a few moments in denial before simply huffing and tossing Lewa the owed amount. "I still think you sneakcheated…"

At present, the trio were comfortably situated in Matau's living room, whilst Takua and Hlahlu were in the kitchen making tea and keeping the children occupied, as well as likely having their own conversation about the Seventh Toa. Lewa had half a mind to check in on them, and surely he would have done so had it not been for Jaller speaking up before he had a chance. "Turaga Matau, what do you do when someone is keeping secrets from you?"

Matau blinked curiously at him. "Eh? I suppose that would depend on who is doing the secret keeping. Why? Is someone troublebothering you?"

Jaller nodded, shifting uncomfortably as he glanced toward the kitchen before answering. "Yeah, Takua actually. He said that telling me would put me in serious danger, but he knows I don't care about that sort of stuff. This whole Avohkii business is supposed to be about some mythical light-bringer, but so far all I've gotten is being left in the dark and pushed into an adventure that wasn't mine to have. I never asked for this, and I wasn't even the one who found the wretched thing in the first place."

Matau's expression shifted from curiosity to concern right away, and Lewa knew exactly why. He could remember all too clearly what happened when Vakama got pushed unwillingly into leadership. To this day it remained one of the biggest regrets the turaga carried from their days as Toa. "Jaller," Matau asked almost tentatively. "how exactly did this all happen?"

Thus Jaller began to explain the situation, or at least what he knew of it, and with every detail he mentioned Matau's concern grew. Lewa's was growing too; Jaller had effectively been shafted with a duty that was not his to bear, something that, when coupled with the amount of secret keeping as well as Takua's reason for it, painted the whole scene as suspicious as well as unhealthy, if not outright toxic. By the time Jaller was finished, both Lewa and Matau were blatantly expressing their concern.

"It soundseems like Takua is deeptroubled most by this darkspooky person you mentioned." Matau concluded after some deliberation. "Rightly so, I thinkfigure."

Jaller frowned in exasperation. "So you think I shouldn't know as well?"

"Notnever did I suggest that." The turaga corrected. "I think you learnknowing would be an everwise thoughtplan. However, this whole thing has far too much deepshadow to be even close to random chance."

Lewa grimaced as he recalled the glowing eyes he had seen earlier. Had his guess really been true? "Turaga Matau," he asked, frowning slightly. "you don't thinkfigure the Makuta is trying to cause troubleproblems, do you?"

"I do." Matau grimly assured. "Only the Makuta could cause so much deepfear that it would bring about such desperate secret keeping."

"But why would the Makuta tell Takua to find the mask if it is his polar opposite?" Jaller asked. "That makes no sense at all."

"Why indeed?" Matau mused thoughtfully. "It would be dangerbad for him to create his own worst enemy. I believe there is another piece to this little playgame; one that does not play by the rules. This darkshadow stranger Takua met might be in league with the Makuta, but he might also be in league with us."

Both Lewa and Jaller were confused by this statement, the latter asking. "What? How does that work?"

Matau offered a vague half-smile. "I think the Makuta has an underling. More specifically, I think he has an underling who wants him to lose. And if they are desperate enough to giftgive us the Avohkii, they are no enemy of ours."

Lewa could only think of one previous subordinate of the Makuta's who would be crazy enough to do something as dangerous as blatant treason, and his mind strayed back to the glowing eyes once more. Was there a new Shadow Toa in their midst? Or had the previous one cheated death against all odds?

"So who exactly is this mystery person?" Jaller pressed. "Who could be that reckless?"

Matau merely shrugged. "Your thoughtguess is as good as mine."


	17. Chapter 17: Stubborn Unity

"Noooo!"

Takua blinked as his gaze turned toward the living room doorway. Presently he was helping Hlahlu in the kitchen with making tea, though admittedly the Chronicler was spending more time playing with Mekoki and Kelvar than he was being beneficial. In fact, he had just been in the middle of playing 'pass the pokawi' when Matau's lamenting exclamation resounded loud and clear. "Is… is he okay, Hlahlu?"

The Ga-Matoran giggled loudly as her gaze briefly strayed to the doorway as well. "Oh I'm sure he's fine." She assured cheerfully. "If he doesn't yell or whine at least once in a day, it's a miracle from the Great Spirit." She smiled fondly as she watched her children chase their new pet around the room. "Admittedly, he's actually gotten a lot more like his old self now that we have children; they give him a reason to stay as active as the rest of the village, and I think they remind him of his younger days."

Takua grinned. "Before you managed to tame him?"

Hlahlu giggled again and shook her head. "Can anyone truly tame the wind? It moves as it pleases, sweeping through the land and inevitably leaving its mark on all it touches."

The Chronicler laughed quietly. "You've gotten rather flowery with your words." He observed, flashing her a cheeky look as he spoke. "You aren't trying to steal my job, are you?"

"Mata Nui, no." She replied with a laugh of her own. "I have my hands full here at home, let alone going off on rand adventures every other week. We all have our places and duties, and mine is right here."

Takua's expression sunk at her last statement, his eyes trailing to the floor and a sigh escaping him. "I… don't think I have one anymore, to be honest."

This remark caught Hlahlu off guard. "What? That's nonsense, Takua. Whatever put such a concerning and inaccurate thought in your mind?"

"I…" He hesitated before shaking his head and looking out the window. "I had a duty and I ran from it. I pushed it off and made Jaller deal with it instead."

"The Avohkii business?" She asked. "I wondered about that. You and Jaller seemed to be a bit at odds with each other when you came in, and honestly I've never known you to be as enthusiastic about making tea as you made yourself out to be earlier." The Ga-Matoran offered him an apologetic smile. "You were never a good liar, even on your best days."

"So I'm a duty-shirker and an obvious liar?" He remarked, heaving a heavy sigh. "This just keeps getting better and better. Is it normal for one person to fail so incredibly badly?"

"Oh shush." Hlahlu chided, pushing a cup of tea into his hands and frowning. "You haven't failed anything or anyone but yourself, and even then you've only done so by giving up on yourself. Why don't you tell me what this is really about?"

"What's there to tell?" Takua replied with a heavy sigh. "I chickened out when I needed to do my job, and that's it. Nothing more or less."

"Oh really?" Hlahlu gently pressed. "Because to me it sounds like fear talking, not Takua. The brave little Chronicler I know wouldn't be avoiding honesty with a friend unless there was something extremely wrong in the background." She lightly rested a hand on the troubled teen's shoulder. "It will only be able to stop you if you continue to let it. What are you so afraid of?"

The Chronicler hesitated again. Would telling her put her in harm's way? Could he handle it if she got hurt because of him? What would happen if she did?

A gentle squeeze from the hand on his shoulder brought Takua back from his thoughts, his eyes meeting hers as the older matoran spoke again. "This fear and doubt isn't the Takua I know. That Takua would plunge headlong into danger if anyone he cared about was potentially in a bad situation. He would risk everything to make sure they were safe."

"That's why I'm scared." He said finally. "I'm afraid that doing something, anything with that kanohi will kill everyone I care about. I… I pushed it onto Jaller's shoulders because… Because I don't want anyone to die."

Hlahlu blinked slowly as he said this, though she didn't fully seem surprised by his answer. "That's quite a heavy burden to carry, especially when you know Jaller has no idea just how important, and dangerous, his mission is supposed to be. Something or someone said or did something big enough that it left you terrified of not only the task you were given, but also of yourself." She thought a moment before speaking again. "You encountered someone, didn't you? Someone shrouded in darkness, who's only defining features were a bone-chilling voice and glowing red eyes."

Takua gaped at her in alarm. "Y-you've seen him too?"

The Ga-Matoran nodded. "I have. I've seen him spying on Lewa and the village a few times. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone that I'd seen him." She paused to sip her tea. "So naturally I told my husband, and so far the worst that's happened is Le-Koro missing out on the kohlii finals." She smiled and sipped her tea again. "You can tell Jaller what you saw and what he said, Takua; all it will do is make your friendship stronger, and that is something you boys definitely need."

"B-but he said that telling someone would threaten more than privacy." The Chronicler feebly argued. "That kind of implies lives are at risk, doesn't it?"

"It does, but not necessarily in the direction you're seeing it as. It sounds to me like he's more worried about himself than he is tossing threats at you. It's pretty clear that he is no friend of the Toa, and if that is the case he is more than likely allied with the Makuta. Given the nature of the Avohkii it stands to reason that his telling you about it was, in essence, a very high level of treason, something that would not be taken lightly." She offered Takua a warm smile. "Just think about it a bit; in the end I'm sure you'll make the right choice, whichever it may be."

"Mama, Pokki went into the living room!"

All attention shifted to Mekoki, who now stood in the kitchen doorway and was staring longingly after her pet. Kelvar was biting his lip a little anxiously, his eyes shifting between his mother and his sister as though unsure of what to do. "Can we go get Pokki back?" He asked hopefully. "Please?"

Hlahlu giggled softly as she nodded. "Go ahead and retrieve her, you two. Try not to disturb your father though; he's having an important conversation with Lewa and Jaller right now."

The fact that, at that moment, Matau let out a comical squawk that was swiftly followed by Lewa bursting into laughter derailed that, however, and Hlahlu corrected herself right away. "Never mind kids; go save your father. It sounds like he needs it."

As the two children started giggling and raced into the living room, their mother wandered o the doorway to watch the antics that were now unfolding. "There's just something wonderful about watching those two playing with that silly bird." She mused contentedly.

Takua couldn't help but crack a joke. "Do you mean the pokawi, or Matau?"

Hlahlu grinned at him, tittering quietly as she remarked. "Sometimes I have to wonder. But the part that matters most is their relationship, both with each other as well as their father. They might not see it at present, but their connection now will help them later, just as you and Jaller are close and strong now because you grew up with each other That won't change either; there will be tiffs and arguments, but you will never lose the foundation that was set in place when you were little. Let's also not forget how remarkably stubborn you and Jaller are; you might be fighting like disgruntled gukkos at the moment, but neither of you give up on people easily. It will take more than mere shadows and idle threats to break that kind of Unity." She giggled and smiled again. "Now drink your tea; if we can get away with delaying 'rescuing' Matau from his children so he can keep pretending to be an adult, I'll take it."

Thus, the afternoon was spent watching the turaga get poked and prodded into playing with his children and their pokawi, officially derailing any and every attempt to resume serious conversation. For Takua, this was a breath of fresh air and a glorious escape from any worry about the Avohkii or how to try and make amends with Jaller. Not only this, but the light-hearted atmosphere seemed to be helping Jaller's mood too; he'd even laughed at a couple wisecracks Takua had managed to squeak into the casual conversations that were being had. And, on top of it all, Hlahlu and Matau invited the pair to stay the night, something they were both happy to accept. As the day wound down to a close, and the children were getting ready for bed, the travelling duo made small talk with each other, as well as gave Matau an accurate play-by-play of the kohlii match. It was almost as though life was back to normal.

"Takua can you tell us a bedtime story?!"

This declaration had come from Mekoki, who hastily parked her pajama-clad self on the floor in front of Takua's chair. "Please tell us a story!" She begged, her eyes twinkling with hope and excitement. "Just an itty bitty one! Pleeeeaaaaaase?!"

Honestly, she was really too cute for her own good, and the fact that she had her pokawi on her head wasn't doing anything other than bolster that concept.

"I think that's up to your mom, Koki." Takua replied with a laugh. "She might get me in trouble if you don't ask her first."

The little girl nodded before turning towards Hlahlu - who seemed to have been following her in an attempt to put her to bed - and piping. "Takua's gonna tell a bedtime story!"

"W-with your permission!" The Chronicler hastily added, shifting in his seat a little. "I told her she had to ask you first."

"So I heard." Hlahlu replied, shaking her head in mild exasperation and amusement at the situation. "You can tell her and Kelvar a story. Only one though; it's already past their bedtime."

"Yay!" Mekoki cheered, throwing her hands gleefully in the air - an action that nearly unseated her bird - before leaning forward excitedly. "What's the story called? Please tell me!"

"Can you tell it like how Dad tells them?" Kelvar added hopefully. "With treespeak?"

Yeah! Treespeak! Just like Daddy!"

Takua blinked. He hadn't actually practiced treespeak for a while, let alone told a story with it. Still, the kids wanted it, and who was he to say no?

Jaller smirked a little from his spot on the couch. "Well?" He prompted teasingly. "You gonna do it or what? You aren't going to let down a couple of hopeful faces like theirs, are you?"

"Me? Let them down? Notnever!" Takua declared with a grin. "I've never disappointed a happyfan before, and I don't aim to now!"

The trick would be telling a story that was short but entertaining, and while the kids cheered he quickly racked his brain for ideas. It didn't take long, fortunately, and he soon began the tale. "Have I ever spoketold you about the evergreat guard captain, Rala? He was as good as the ToaHeroes, but he was a matoran like you and me."

Mekoki gasped excitedly. "He was? What'd he do?!"

"All sorts of things!" Takua replied cheerfully. "He could protectsave his whole island all by himself! But he was lonely and unhappy. See, he had a trueheart friend named Aku, but Aku was very scared and didn't like to go on adventures that were spookscary. He worryfretted all the time and thought he'd put Rala in deepdanger if he went along."

"Silly Aku!" Mekoki chattered. "Captain Rala could keep him safe!"

"He could." Takua agreed. "And deep down, Aku felt eversilly about being scared. But he still continued to worryfret and hide while Rala kept being an evergreat MatoranHero. Rala was sad because he knew Aku secretly deeploved adventures. So one day he brought Aku along while he looksearched for a mythical lightstone, big enough to give his whole islandhome light. Aku was terrorscared! But that wasn't all. Do you know what else Aku found himself to be deepfeeling?"

The children shook their heads, Kelvar speaking up as they did. "What else was he feeling?"

Takua grinned at them before shooting a meaningful look at Jaller as he answered. "He began to feel everbrave, because Rala supporthelped him the whole time, no matter if they bickerfought or secretkept. It helped Aku see just how evergreat his bestfriend was, and that he was silly to secretkeep things from him." He looked back at the children and leaned a little closer. "And you know what happened?"

"What?" They echoed hopefully.

"They found the lightstone together, and helped their whole islandhome get the happily ever after they all wanted. Because when it comes down to it, anything can be done with Unity, no matter how everbig, or how tinysmall, it might be. Aku had to learnthat, and he was able to because of evergreat Captain Rala."

"Where are they now?" Kelvar asked.

"Following their heartdreams." Takua answered cheerfully. "And making the world a betterhappy place for everyone." He smiled fondly at the pair. "And there you have it; a short bedtime story, in treespeak, with a happy ending."

"That was really cool!"

"Thanks Takua!"

Hahlu giggled as she moved closer and gently started to shoo her children off to bed, a chorus of happy goodnights resounding right up until they were in their room with the door shut. This left Jaller and Takua alone in the living room, and for several seconds an almost awkward silence hovered.

"So… Rala and Aku, huh?" Jaller finally remarked, eyeing Takua with a raised brow. "Quite the story you told them. And me, it seems."

The Chronicler offered an awkward, somewhat guilty smile. "A bit, yeah…" His smile faded as his gaze strayed to the floor. "I'm really sorry about-"

"Oh hush." Jaller cut in, idly bouncing a cushion off Takua's head and smirking slightly. "Save it for tomorrow, alright? No point in sullying today's fun by getting all serious right at the end."

Takua blinked as the pillow smacked against the side of his face and tumbled into his lap, staring at it a moment before he started to laugh. "So you got mad at me for not telling you anything, and now when I try to bring it up, you tell me to be quiet? Sheesh Jaller, I thought being unpredictable was my job."

"Who said you never rubbed off on me?" Jaller countered with a mild laugh. "Kind of works both ways, you know; you get my unhealthy fearlessness, I get your undying element of surprise. It all works out in the end. Besides, everyone knows you're the bigger kohlii head between us." He blinked at Takua gave him an almost impish grin. "What are you up to now?"

The Chronicler continued to grin as he adjusted his hold on the cushion. "I'm thinking you should grab another pillow."


End file.
